Siren's Song
by Crimson Skye 2012
Summary: After dealing with so much pain and seeing how Naruto's own team and sensei treat her, she leaves Konoha with a heavy heart. Years later she returns to face her past and take part in the Chunin Exams and show that she is worth something.
1. Act I Part I Pain

**Siren's Song**

**Act I Part I**

**Pain**

I do not own Naruto, just the few characters that I make up that will be in the story.

**IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END**

After dealing with so much pain and seeing how Naruto's own team and sensei treat her, she leaves Konoha with a heavy heart. Deciding that she was tired of it all, she intends to find a place to live out her life in peace though destiny has ways of getting what it wants. After several years Naruto ends up on a new team heading back to Konoha to participate in the Chūnin exams and possibly help save Konoha from not only it's enemies, but itself as well.

* * *

Naruto Age 13

For once, everything was going her way from waking up to find out the events of the previous night was not a dream to realizing that she truly was a ninja now despite failing the exam. All those years of hard work, the years of ridicule fro students and teacher alike were now a thing of the past as she was her own woman now. She had the headband to prove it and at the end of the week she would have the paperwork to back it up when she was assigned to a team.

Too bad she didn't really have anyone to spend the time during the week between graduating and team assignments with to really celebrate. The week was there for the students who graduated to spend the last little bit of free time with their families as they said goodbye to their childhood and prepared for adulthood that becoming a Genin of Konoha entailed. She had no family though to spend this time with, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She was going to show off her new accessory with pride and show those hateful villagers that they were wrong about her.

If things truly went her way maybe she could even stop pretending to be a boy as the old man Hokage had made her do all these years. She was never really sure why she had to hide anyways. She was physically weaker than most boys her age, after all most girls were, but she made up for that with her speed and agility as well as stealth. None of that mattered though as she couldn't fight off grown adults either way, so why bother hiding her true gender? The villagers would hate her either way and beat her every October 10th, not to mention every time a group got drunk and decided a good hunt was in order.

The sweet aroma of the best food ever caught her nose drawing her from her thoughts as she strolled into her favorite restaurant. Okay, maybe it was the only one who would truly serve her, but it was still her favorite. As she walked up to the Ramen bar and took a seat on a stool, she looked up to see the old man coming from the back.

"Oh, so your a ninja now?" Teuchi teased in good nature, giving the blonde a big smile. "I guess that means your celebrating. How about a bowl of Ramen on the house?"

"That would be great old man!" Naruto cheered while giving the man a cheesy, yet proud grin. "Can I have a miso ramen?"

"Sure thing, kid." Teuchi said before turning to the back and calling out, "One miso ramen for our favorite customer, Ayame!"

"Coming right up father!" Ayame called back, her voice full of her usual cheer. The two always seemed to be happy when Naruto saw them and the two always treated her with love and respect. Too bad the same couldn't be said for the rest of the villagers, including the new customer who just came in.

Like Sakura, this woman had bright pink hair and a loud banshee like voice. Even though the blonde didn't know for sure, she believed this woman was Sakura's mother or another close relative. She was also on the civilian council and one of the biggest causes of many of Naruto's headaches.

"Where the hell did you get that?" The pink haired woman asked.

"Haruno, leave the boy alone or I'll have to ask you to leave!" Teuchi barked at the screeching woman, momentarily drawing the hate filled glare on himself.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't be caught dead eating in the same place as this...this trash." The woman sneered, glaring down at her nose at Naruto who drew in on herself. "You may have the headband, but you will never really be a ninja. Filth like you will never be anything more than the worthless garbage that you are.!"

"Haruno!" Teuchi growled threateningly as he picked up a kitchen knife from behind the counter.

"I'm leaving, and I won't be back." The woman said coldly as she spun around and stalked off, obviously fuming at the altercation between the three.

"I'm sorry about that, Naruto." Teuchi sighed, all of a sudden looking much older than he had when the blonde walked in. "Don't listen to her, kid. I know you will be a great ninja, just don't ever give up. Don't let people like that dictate how you want to live your life."

"It's just so hard sometimes, you know?" Naruto admitted sadly making the old man give her a pitying look.

"If you ever need anything, you know Ayame and I will always be there for you." Teuchi said giving an encouraging smile.

"Sure." Naruto said returning the smile, though it didn't reach her eyes. It was true that the two had always been there for her with kind words and encouragement, even helping when she had no money for food or clothes. They really have given Naruto so much, everything except for the one thing she both wanted and needed the most. A family.

For once, Naruto slowly ate her noodles and didn't even bother asking for seconds. Instead, she somberly thanked the two who had tried to get her to engage in small talk during the meal. She just didn't feel like talking after running into the pink haired woman, nor did she have much of an appetite any longer.

Walking through the busy streets of the village she paid close attention to the people watching her as she passed. She wasn't sure why she thought things would be better when she gained the headband, but a large part of her was sure that she would be respected more. Instead, the looks held no respect whatsoever while they held more disgust and contempt for her than ever before. Several people even went so far as throw things at her and make demeaning remarks about how filth shouldn't be allowed the honor of being a ninja.

With a much heavier heart than she started her day out with, Naruto decided to one of the lesser used training grounds where she normally went for practice. She wanted to try and use her new technique, the shadow clone jutsu, to help improve her taijutsu by sparring with her clones. At the same time she would also be mastering the technique that had let her defend Iruka and herself from the traitor that was one of her former instructors.

The technique itself was simple enough, just a single hand seal. On the other hand, it was supposedly a B-ranked jutsu and very hard to use as it required an insane amount of chakra to pull off creating just one or two clones. It was lucky that she had such an insane reserve of chakra as she could create the clones all day and it would barely phase her.

Grinning a bit as a spark lit in her eyes as she once again promised herself that she would prove that she was more than most people gave her credit for being. She would prove that she wasn't filth, trash or a little monster like some said. She would prove that she could be more than a dead last by becoming the best ninja she could be. She would make the villagers respect her by giving it her all to protect them!

Hours later she sat under a tree, her chakra reserves still rather high despite her body feeling tired after the grueling sparring session she forced herself to do. It felt good though, her muscles burned though to her it meant that she was getting stronger. She was getting better and she intended to continue doing so.

"Well, lookie here boys, the demon brat looks tired." A condescending voice laughed harshly drawing Naruto's attention to a group of at least seven men surrounding her. Two of them wore the standard Chūnin uniforms while the others she suspected were civilian. Actually, she recognized some of them as being shop owners that would not let her shop in their stores.

"I bet you think your hot shit now that you have that headband, don't you?" Another of the men asked, swaying a little letting the blonde know that most of these men had been drinking, and were most likely drunk. She also knew that she wasn't going to escape very easily as they had already surrounded her and there were two Chūnin with them while she was physically tired from her training.

"Get up brat!" Another of the men demanded as they yanked her up by the arm. She started to make the seal to make some shadow clones to help her but she found a kunai jammed through the palm of her right hand ripping a pained scream from her throat.

"Leave me alone!" Naruto sobbed as she tried to pull away.

"I don't think so brat." Another man said as he grabbed her injured hand opposite of the other man, the two working together to hold her still while keeping her hands apart to prevent any jutsu. "Did you bring the whip?"

"Yeah, we're going to whip this dog and show him his place under those that are better than him." Another man laughed as he flicked the whip making a loud cracking noise. "Take his jacket off, we don't want it reducing the pain any, do we?"

It was at that moment that fear really started to fill the blonde. She was scared of being beaten, but she was used to it. They never stripped any clothing off her before now though as they usually stuck with using blunt objects, kunai or punches and kicks. The Hokage and her personal doctor, the only two people that she knew of that knew her true gender, had warned her to never let anyone see her naked as it would let them know that she was a girl.

The horrible orange jumpsuit was loose and baggy for a reason, she was already maturing and it helped hide her growing curves. She had asked numerous times why she had to wear it, why she couldn't wear pretty dresses like the other girls. Instead, the Hokage only shook his head sadly and told her someday he could tell her after she became a ninja while prohibiting her doctor from telling her despite the woman obviously wanting to. Now these men were going to find out, and she had a bad feeling she would find out why she was supposed to hide, but she didn't want to find out this way.

She was helpless as she struggled against the two men holding her, sobbing as the kunai stuck in her hand throbbed painfully while another man came up and unzipped the top while pulling it open. "Holy shit, those don't belong on any boy!"

"What are you talking about as two men came up on either side of the one who had her top open while staring at her bound chest.

"So what, we knew the kid was a freak, a boy having tits only make him more of one." One of the two said.

"Idiot, check down below." The one who opened her jacket demanded. A few moments later of the two holding her, Naruto was stripped of her sandals and jump suit as she stood hanging between the two men in only her bandage wrapped chest and panties.

"What do we have here, our little fox is a little vixen. The demon is a bitch!" One of the men laughed.

"You know what we do to little bitches, don't you?" Another asked.

"We're going to have fun with you little girl, yes we are. We're going to break you in real good, maybe even keep you as our new toy." Another man said, his voice strange in a way that made the fear in Naruto grow even more. She didn't understand what they were talking about, only that it wasn't good.

It didn't take long to find out what the men planned to do and she was helpless to stop it. Instead, she cried in confusion, screaming in pain as she begged them to stop. For what seemed like hours she begged them to stop hurting her as they took turns between her legs, beating and biting her as she thrashed under them. It wasn't until the moon was high in the sky that the pain finally stopped as the men began screaming as the blonde girl's mind began shutting down. She felt something like a blanket or overly large coat draped over her body.

"Oh dear Kami, you're a..." A feminine voice gasped.

"A what?" A man's voice demanded, anger in his voice. as the covering was wrapped tighter around her and she was lifted off the ground.

"Don't you worry about it bastard." The female's voice hissed angrily. "You stay here and make sure none of these sickos survived."

The last thing she remembered was silver and the male voice saying, "I'm so sick of cleaning up after your mess demon brat."

* * *

**Drip**

**Drip**

**Drip**

"Huh?" Naruto moaned as the constant sound of dripping water broke through the fog in her mind forcing her to open her eyes in annoyance.

**Drip**

**Drip**

**Drip**

Kami, but that was annoying as hell. The drips were so loud that it could have been a giant water drop falling into a lake. Looking around as she sat up, Naruto noticed that it was not a lake at all, but a sewer. She was in a sewer! "Thos bastards dropped me in a sewer?"

Taking a few deep breaths trying to calm herself when she realized that not only was she in a sewer, but she was also naked. She started shivering as flashes of memory assaulted her mind of what those men had done to her and the pain it brought. She didn't know why they did it, but she felt so disgusted and dirty. She felt that no matter how much she bathed that she would never wash off the dirt. A deep sense of hopelessness and helplessness quickly settled in as tears began falling.

"WHY? WHY DO YOU KEEP HURTING ME?" Naruto screamed in agony, sobbing as she curled into a ball. She knew that she held the nine tailed fox within her now, but she wasn't the fox. She was Naru 'Naruto' Uzumaki! "Why?"

"Child." A deep, guttural voice called out, echoing off the tunnel walls.

"Go away!" Naruto sobbed louder as she curled up tighter. "Can't you just leave me alone? I never did anything so why are you doing this?"

"Kit. Sweetie, follow my voice. I promise I won't hurt you." The guttural voice said again, but this time it began changing near the middle of it. It went from being loud and deep, as if it was growling, to soft and melodic as if the person could have been singing it. The voice seemed so sincere, so loving, as it seemed to wrap around the blonde urging her to follow the voice.

Slowly, the blonde girl climbed to her feet, swaying a little. Looking down at herself again she was surprised that there were no bruises after everything they did to her. Maybe she had been out a lot longer than usual, as much pain as she was in before passing out made her not doubt that theory.

"Kit, we are on limited time, so please come." The voice beckoned again, this time getting the blonde to hug herself before moving forward. It seemed to take forever as se waded through the very shallow water that filled the bottom of the tunnel as she tried to ignore the annoying dripping and instead focus on the beautiful voice up ahead. Finally she broke out of the tunnel into a very large and spacious chamber that didn't seem to have a ceiling as the walls kept going up and up until they vanished into the inky darkness overhead.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked nervously as she noticed a large cage in the center of the chamber and a shadowed form about the size of an adult moving around inside. The blonde gasped when a very beautiful and exotic beauty came out of the shadows, almost gliding as she moved to the edge of the cage where Naruto found herself to. Either one of the two should have been able to move between the bars, but the woman stopped just shy of them and looked at them sadly before turning her gaze on Naruto.

"I'm so sorry for what happened to you." The woman said, her voice barely loud enough to hear as she hung her head while her hair fell n a way to hide her eyes in the shadows it created. Naruto was shocked when she saw the drops of water falling into the larger body of water on the floor making the horrendous dripping noise. She was crying. This woman was crying for what had been done to Naruto? But why?

"Because, I am the nine tailed fox." The woman croaked out, reaching out to stroke Naruto's cheek, but screamed as her hand reached the line of bars and lightning coursed up the woman's arm. She yanked it back before mumbling, "I deserved that."

Taking a few moments to look over the woman again, Naruto studied her and realized some very important things that helped prove the woman's claim of being the demon that attacked the village the night the blonde was born. The tufts of hair sticking up on the woman's head was not hair as Naruto first believed, but rather red fox ears. And what she thought was merely decorations on the form fitting robe was actually nine white tipped, red fox tails that swayed back and forth. The woman's cheeks held the same markings as Naruto's own, though the woman's eyes were a golden yellow.

"I guess it really is true then, isn't it?" Naruto sighed, realizing that there was a part of her that didn't believe the whole sealing the world's most powerful demon into her tummy. It sounded insane, and yet one of the only people she trusted had finally admitted to that fact while the definite proof of the creature's existence was standing before her nursing a burnt hand. "Does that mean we're inside me or something?"

"In your mind, yes." The woman said sadly. "I've wanted so much to help you all these years. I wanted so much to hold you, to comfort you when you were lonely or hurting. Most of all, I've wanted to take all of your pain away and onto myself because all of this is my fault."

"Why did you even attack Konoha?" Naruto asked as she made sure to stay away from the edge of the cage. She wasn't sure if it would shock her, but she was also wary of the woman in front of her. She wasn't curious as to why she was human looking as she knew demons could change their shape. The thing she wanted to know was why even attack Konoha to begin with? If the fox never attacked then maybe her parents would still be alive and she wouldn't be blamed for everything that the fox caused during that fateful night.

"I didn't do it by choice, but I accept full responsibility for it." The woman sighed deeply, sadness filling her voice as she kneeled down on the floor in the low level of water. "I was originally held inside of your mother before the attack."

"You knew my mother?" Naruto gasped, her jaw hanging open as a little flicker of hope filled her heart. Could she finally learn a little about her mother?

"Your mother was a great person sweetie, loving and protective of those she considered precious. To those that threatened the people she considered precious, she was considered a demon herself." The fox woman said with a far away look as the tears slowed making the blond realize that her own tears had stopped for the time being.

"What..." Naruto began, taking a deep breath as she partly feared the answer. "What was her name?"

"Her name was Kushina Uzumaki." The fox woman said softly while rubbing her arms as if she was cold. "Unlike her mother, Kushina didn't like me and refused to talk to me. Still, I was able to see everything she did, experience everything she did."

"So you can see everything I do?" Naruto asked softly, not sure how to take that little bit of information.

"No, your seal is different than the normal Uzumaki seal. Normally I've been passed down from generation to generation as I should have been with you." The fox woman explained. "It's been that way since I was punished by Kami and sealed in my beast form. The only time I can take a human form is when I'm with a human."

"Kami punished you?" Naruto asked, horrified at that news.

"That's a story for a later time sweetie, but you asked why I attacked Konoha. We should get to that while we have time." The fox woman sighed. "During childbirth..."

"Childbirth?" Naruto asked, a little confused.

"Oh Kami...They really screwed up your education, didn't they?" The woman sighed. "Sweetie, if we have time I promise to go over that. During childbirth though, the Uzumaki seal would weaken and that is when the man in the spiral mask attacked and shattered the seal freeing me. Before I knew it I was looking into a Sharingan eye before waking up in you. I was put in a genjutsu and tricked into attacking."

"So it isn't your fault either? Everything that's happened was because of this freak with a weird eye?" Naruto sighed, leaning against the bars before realizing she should be getting zapped by the same shock that his the fox woman.

"The seal doesn't hurt you, you can come and go as you want while I'm trapped in here." The woman said with a sad smile as the blonde cautiously walked into the cage.

"You feel so real." Naruto said surprised as she reached out touch the woman's shoulder who was still kneeling. Naruto knew that the woman could get her now, maybe even kill her. A part of the blonde even hoped for it, hoped for the pain to end. Instead her eyes began watering again as she moved closer to the kneeling woman. "Will you hold me?"

"Oh honey, anytime you need." The red haired woman smiled as she pulled the blonde into her lap and held her tightly letting the young girl cry while stroking the blonde locks of hair.

* * *

"Where the hell were you, Kakashi?" An angry Hokage demanded as he sat at his desk going over the thick folder of all the damage done to his favorite little blonde. The Hokage had originally planned on letting the ANBU before him in on the truth behind Naruto many of times, but each time the silver haired man had disappointed Hiruzen in some way concerning the child.

"I had to break up an argument at a bar." Kakashi explained calmly. Hiruzen knew it was a lie though, the man wasn't breaking up a fight, he was there getting drunk.

"DO NOT LIE TO ME, KAKASHI!" Hiruzen roared in anger and he jumped to his feet and slammed his open hands on the desk making a loud booming sound.

"Lord Hokage..." Kakashi whimpered as he took a step back, his mouth hanging open as he searched for what to say.

"Save it, Kakashi." Hiruzen sneered as he dropped back down in his seat with an evil grin spreading across his face. "I know how the council has been hounding you to train Sasuke and for once, I think I agree with them."

"But Sir, I am a high ranking officer in the ANBU, I can't take on a team of Genin and keep up with those duties." Hiruzen explained slowly while hoping the old man would see how impossible it would be to do both jobs. Teaching a bunch of kids would take up too much time, more so even than his duties in ANBU that he enjoyed.

"Oh that won't be a problem, Hiruzen. From this moment on, you are stripped of your ANBU rank and your pay will be cut to reflect your new position as sensei. Further more, you will be fined for failing in your duties to protect young Naruto and your pay docked for shirking your duties." Hiruzen said with a sneer, though a part of him knew that this should help the newly appointed Jōnin in learning how great a child Naruto was. It would also serve several other purposes as well.

"You can't do that!" Kakashi blurted before covering his mouth up, eyes wide in horror as he watched the old man seemingly glow red for several moments as he fought down his rage.

"I can and have, Kakashi. It's time you were reminded what Konoha and the will of fire represents. You need to be reminded what the words you dare preach truly mean by relearning teamwork as well as understanding just how badly you have wronged Naruto." Hiruzen sighed. "This who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends and comrades are worse than trash. Kakashi, not only have you broken the rules I set down, you have in effect abandoned a helpless child, a comrade. Perhaps the children can teach you just as much as you can teach them.

"I doubt that, Sir." Kakashi grumbled, fully intending to do what he normally does with Genin when forced to test them by failing them. Once done then perhaps he could get back to his posts as ANBU.

"Kakashi, I will be monitoring the Genin tests and if you don't give them a fair chance I will have you brought up on charges for obstructing official business and have you stripped of your position as a ninja with dishonor. You will live out the rest of your days as a civilian, do I make my self clear?" Hiruzen asked in a quite, yet razor sharp voice showing that he meant business with what he said.

"Yes Sir." Kakashi stiffly replied, angry at the old man and fearful of what would happen with the Genin. If he failed them then he could have his career stripped from him and if they passed then he would be stuck teaching a group of brats who thought they knew everything and was invincible. Life sucked and there was no making lemonade out of this cluster fuck he landed himself into and in the back of his head he knew he had no one else to blame but himself.

* * *

If you want to help make this story better, I need to know some details about certain things in the Naruto universe.

1) Money, according to tamara the currency used is in Ryo. How does the conversion for that work? Such as how much would it cost to spend the night in a decent inn and a cheap meal?

2) Names of towns...I need one large, non-ninja village. I think I remember a Tanzuna or Tanzuka or something that was a large gambling town, but I can't remember.

3) Police...Again, tamara stated that a regular police force is used though a village could hire ninja if they wanted to help out. So this question is pretty much answered unless anyone has anymore input.

4) Leaders...Who is in charge of a non-ninja village? A mayor? Some kind of fuedal lord besides the Damiyo? I know tamara said, "fedural lords and roalty(princesses,kings queens ect.)" I know the Damiyo controls all of Fire Country and a Kage is in charge of a ninja village. But what about the villages that are non ninja, is the person in charge of the vilage itself just referred to as Lord or Lady?

5) Year...What is the time frame around the graduation in the anime? Month and year? I really would like to know some kind of frame work for when events are taking place, but if not I'll just put Naruto's age at the time at the beginning of each chapter instead of a date.

That's it for now. I would appreciate any help all of you could give me to make this story better.

Thank you tamara for helping with the information and the goldmine of the website you gave me for information. And thank you for the Avatar, MyFavories. I was looking for something a little less revealing, but it looks great!


	2. Act I Part II Loss

**Siren's Song**

**Act I Part II**

**Loss**

I do not own Naruto, if I did I wouldn't be writing on here instead of in a Manga. (Plus I would be able to draw more than a stick figure.)

I have to admit I was worried no one liked this story until Belldandy55555 and Dark Vizard447 reviewed, thank you both very much. I still need suggestions or help with a few points to make this story better. The things I need are again listed at the end so PLEASE is you know the answer or have suggestions for it please let me know.

* * *

Naruto Age 13

It was barely a day since she left the hospital, almost two since she finally woke up despite her not really wanting to. She didn't even want to leave her personal hospital room that was reserved solely for her when she was injured with only her doctor that was hand picked by the Hokage himself allowed in to see her. She wasn't ready to face the village after what those men did, she wasn't even sure she ever would be. After everything that was thrown at her in her short life, they finally managed to break her spirit.

After three scolding hot showers this morning, Naruto was standing nervously outside her classroom where she would see her classmates one last time before team placements. She felt so dirty and worthless as her fingers shook, her only support was the fox demon urging her to be strong from within her mind where the woman kept whispering encouraging words to her. Telling her that everything would be okay and that by entering the door she would finally be a ninja and any civilian who attacked her would pay for assaulting a military officer of the village.

The problem was, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be a ninja anymore. Why should she be something that tied her to a village that hated her so much that they had to crush her spirit, take everything away from her and violate her in the worse ways imaginable? She didn't want to admit it, but there was a small spark of anger and hatred that had always been in her and after what those bastards did to her that small ember was slowly growing into a fire that was threatening to consume her. She was constantly swaying between the deep darkness of the abyss of depression and the raging hot inferno that was her growing anger.

Taking a deep breath she pushed the door open and walked into the loud room filled with new Genin excited about their last day of class, their last day of being a child while looking forward to life as a ninja, an adult in the laws eyes. Looking around the class as the crowd hushed, many sending hateful glares her way, she couldn't help but agree with the Kyuubi's assessment: These children were not ready!

"What are you doing here, loser?" Sasuke asked while sneering at her.

"Yeah, only graduates are supposed to be here. Failures like you should just go back to what ever hole you crawled out of." Kiba growled, a confused look on his face as he looked her up and down. It took a few moments for Naruto to realize that she didn't put on any of the special cologne the Hokage supplies her with to mask her scent from the sensitive noses of the clans like the Inuzuka.

"In case you haven't noticed." Choji said as he came up beside her, pointing at the headband around her head dramatically sporting the leaf insignia that marked her as a ninja of Konoha. Grabbing her hand the large boy almost literally dragged her up the stairs to the back row where Shikamaru was already dozing on his desk. Out of all of the students these were the only two that ever really treated the blonde decently on a regular basis. Well, mostly Choji as the lankier of the duo usually ignored her in favor of napping, but he never had anything bad to say about her.

Shaking a little with the close contact Naruto finally managed to pull her hand free while fighting her fear down as she sat in her seat next to wear Choji would sit between her and Shikamaru. "Thanks, Choji."

"Don't mention it." Choji said with a sad smile as he pulled out two bags of chips, giving her one while tearing into his own. That was something that was unusual of the boy as he may offer her chips from time to time, but it was usually a few out of his bag and never a whole bag. Looking a little shocked at the bag, the blonde finally picked it up and opened them before nibbling on a chip herself. "Glad to see you made it."

"As troublesome as it is, I'm glad you made it to." Came Shikamaru's lazy drawl making the blonde give a real smile to the two, probably her first real smile since being awake. Realizing that she was safe with the two she allowed herself to relax just in time for Iruka to come into the room and yell at the class to settle down so he could read off team assignments.

Maybe being a ninja could still be okay, if she could get on a team with Choji and Shikamaru then maybe things would turn out okay. Out of all of the Jonin that she knew, which was surprisingly quite a few, she hoped that the snake lady would be a team sensei and would be her team's leader. After all, she knew that Anko was very similar to her and didn't treat Naruto very badly.

"...And Naruto Uzumaki will be finishing up team seven." Iruka said, taking a deep breath getting ready to continue as Naruto felt like banging her head against the desk for missing who her teammates were.

"What did you say, Iruka sensei?" Naruto asked nervously as most of the room turned to look at her as if she was stupid.

"How could you put me on a team with that loser?" Sakura demanded, "My Sasuke and me are all my team needs!"

"Sakura, sit down and shut up! You know that Genin teams always consist of three Genin and one Jonin sensei, no exceptions except for apprenticeship." Iruka said, "And I said team seven's sensei is Kakashi Hatake with Genin members Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki. There will be no arguing either, these teams were put together by the Hokage himself and the Hokage's word is law!"

"Fine." Naruto groaned as she crossed her arms. Not only did she get stuck with the emo bastard, but his number one fangirl as well. And to top it all off she had no idea who this Kakashi was either. Was he one of the bastards who hated her like the rest of the village? Why couldn't she have a woman for a sensei that she knew at least treated her like anyone else and not the monster many of the villagers saw her as?

"Class, you're free to what ever you want for the next two hours. I do suggest that you use this time to maybe get to know your teammates and grab some lunch." Iruka said as he dropped the clipboard he had been reading off of onto the desk. "Make sure you are back in this room before the two hours are up though as your new squad leaders will be here to pick you up."

With a loud chorus everyone vacated the classroom leaving Naruto to sit by herself. At first she thought that maybe Choji and Shikamaru was going to stay with her and chat, and she was kind of happy about that despite the mixed feelings the two boys brought out in her. Ino took care of that by literally dragging the two boys off while shooting her a hateful glare. She didn't even have a chance to talk to Sasuke or Sakura as they were two of the first to leave the class.

It bothered her that Sakura treated her so badly after offering the blonde friendship their first day in the academy. At first the two had been friendly to each other until the end of the day when the pinkette's mother caught the two together and dragged her daughter away while screaming at the blonde to stay away while calling her monster and demon. Sakura's older sister had been with their mother then and gave the blonde a sad, apologetic look. It wasn't until later that Naruto learned the two Haruno sisters were half sisters and the elder of the two couldn't come to the academy because they only had enough money to enter Sakura when the younger girl came of age. It helped that the older girl didn't really want to be a ninja and wanted to follow in her father's footsteps of a merchant and musician.

Laying her head down on her desk Naruto closed her eyes wondering why she even bothered trying to ask Sakura to hang out the last few years. Especially when the loud girl became a fangirl and misunderstood the blonde's invites as date requests. All she wanted was a friend and for a short time for that day she had a friend. Of course Choji and Shikamaru was friendly with her, but they avoided her out of class most of the time. Shikamaru was just lazy, but Choji seemed a little nervous around her a lot of the time if they met out somewhere.

Deciding to just push those thoughts out of her mind she decided to take care of some of her other problems first, such as meeting with the Kyuubi again. She was still weary around the demoness, but in all honestly the fox demoness felt like what the blonde always dreamed a mother would. From the little contact they had so far, Naruto had learned a little about the creature sealed within. She also learned that the seal was multi-layered so if she wanted to she could grant the Kyuubi more freedoms within the seal itself.

Of course she was wary at first, but Naruto was prepared to just rip the entire seal apart after learning about it. For that moment she didn't even want to bother living and when the Kyuubi warned her that doing so would kill her, the blonde had simply said, "Good."

She didn't though in the end, but she also didn't remove any of the layers either as Kyuubi had told her to think about it first. The creature wanted to give her a choice and even advised her to carefully consider it as there would be no going back after a seal was removed. That was more most anyone else had ever done for her before so reluctantly accepted. She didn't want to have to go into her mine every time she wanted to talk to the exotic beauty that was the demoness so she intended to remove that part of the seal which would grant their minds to form a link that would allow the two conversation at any time. In a way it was a big step, one she planned to take last night but she was too busy scrubbing herself in the cold water of her shower until she was worn out and went to bed to sleep a thankfully dreamless sleep.

"Welcome back, kit." The fox demoness's gravelly voice boomed letting the blonde know that the woman was lounging around in her large, animalistic form inside the cage that was the representation of the seal before opening her eyes.

"I should have done this earlier, but I want to remove the first seal." Naruto said, her voice wavering a little as the large creature like form of the woman was a little unsettling. With a loud sigh, the fox creature shrunk down to the humanoid form of the woman as she kneeled down in the center of the cage, looking up into the deep blue orbs of the younger girl. There was a sadness in the fox demoness's eyes as she studied the blonde girl, not seeing any of the innocence or fun loving spirit that the older woman knew should have been there.

"As I have warned you kit, this is a big step and you can't go back if you later decide you made a mistake." The woman said softly, a little hope lingering in her voice. Removing the first seal meant that the two could talk at any time and the woman could see much more through Naruto's eyes than the few glimpses she could steal before.

"I'm sure." Naruto said with her own sigh, wondering why the woman seemed to have the need to call her kit. Then again, the woman claimed to see Naruto as a child, her own child to be precise and to the foxes their young was called kits according the demoness. "Which reminds me, have you decided upon a name?"

"I have no need for a name, why must you feel the need to label me with one? The only name I held before was more of a title still and Kami stripped me of that." The woman said sadly, still obviously refusing to talk about the details of the tidbit of information. "The humans were the ones to come up with Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"That's a title though, I wouldn't feel right calling you by, hey you, or fox demon." Naruto said as she moved up to the cage and ran her hand over the part of the seal that she knew she would be removing soon. "Calling you by a name would just seem more...normal."

"Fine, if you must label me with such a thing I suppose you could call me Lina." Lina sighed in exasperation.

"That's a pretty name." Naruto smiled as she looked over to the kneeling woman.

"Not really, it was the name of my favorite avatar back before Kami saw the need to punish me and my children and change the world from the way it once was." Lina explained, "Remember that once you remove that, there is no going back."

"I know." Naruto said before ripping the paper off the cage before feeling a sharp pain in her head causing her to scream out. Shooting up to a sitting position she looked around as she clutched her head hearing several people snickering. She also saw a few worried glances sent her way, one surprisingly from Sakura before it was masked with the normal hateful glare.

"Geeze, keep it down you idiot!" Ino snapped from a few rows in front of Naruto sitting between Shikamaru and Choji.

"Are you okay, Naruto? Do you need to go see the nurse?" Iruka asked with worry as he looked up from cleaning out his desk.

"N-No, I'm okay, just a bad dream." Naruto groaned in a mixture of pain and embarrassment. Why the hell didn't Kyuubi warn her of that.

'I did warn you of that.' Came Lina's voice inside of the blonde's head. 'And besides, what happened to the need of calling me by a name?'

'Sorry Lina.' Naruto groaned as she settled down in her seat watching as one teacher after another began filing in to collect their students. Before long the blonde was left with only her teammates and Iruka waiting for Kakashi to arrive. After another hour Iruka sighed as he gathered his things.

"Sorry but I have to go, I have a meeting with the Hokage. Just wait here for your team leader and make sure you show him the proper respect he deserves." Iruka said before mumbling to himself, "As if he deserves any, I swear he would be late for his own funeral."

"Yes, Iruka sensei." Sakura said chipperly while Sasuke just grunted in response. He took a moment to shoot Naruto an apologetic grin before hurrying from the room. It wasn't even ten seconds before Sakura was hanging off Sasuke's arm and begging him for a date while building up his ego even more.

'If this is how I'm supposed to act if I wasn't supposed to hide, I think I would hide anyway.' Naruto sighed while staring at the pink haired girl.

'Maybe you should try to talk to them, get to know them a little more since the three of you will be on a team from now on.' Lina suggested, and Naruto reluctantly agreed. Climbing from her seat she moved closer to the other two, but made sure to keep one desk's worth of distance between her and her teammates.

"What are you doing, loser?" Sasuke grunted as he noticed her moving which drew Sakura's attention as well.

"I thought that since we are, you know, teammates now that we could at least try to pretend to get along." Naruto quipped with one of her famous cheesy grins, though for once it was completely faked. She didn't feel like she had much to be happy about. If she had her choice she would be home right now trying to wash the dirt from her body that she could still feel after talking with Lina and learning the birds and the bees more or less.

"Forget it loser, I don't need you or anyone." Sasuke grunted before turning away from her.

"How about you Sakura, maybe we could hang out a little after meeting sensei?" Naruto asked, not really expecting the pinkette to jump at the chance.

"How many times do I have to tell you I won't date you?" Sakura sneered as she hugged Sasuke 's arm, "You are a pathetic loser that no girl would ever even consider getting close to. Your a freak unlike my Sasuke!"

"I never asked you out on a date!" Naruto snapped, unable to stop herself. She knew her emotions were running raw, but she didn't care. She was going to finally get this off her chest and damn the consequences. "You are the one who offered to be my friend and I never one asked for anything more! If you want to know the truth, I don't even think I want to be here anymore! Why the hell should I be? Why should I risk my life for people who don't give a damn about me?"

"My first impression of you three is that you are pathetic." A voice said from toward the door cutting the blonde's tirade short. "Get your asses on the roof for team introductions in five minutes or don't bother coming at all."

"See what you caused, loser?" Sasuke sneered at the blonde as the silver haired man vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto hung her head as the only male left in the room took off out of the room, the pinkette following after while shooting a guilt filled look back at the blonde though it went unnoticed.

Slowly following after the two, not caring that they quickly made it out of sight, Naruto ascended the stairs until she came out on the rooftop with only five seconds to spare. She ignored the glares of her new sensei and her two teammates who were sitting close together. Sakura was hanging off his arm, again, while he looked annoyed with the pinkette.

"Sit down, blondie so we can get this over with." Kakashi said, almost seeming as if he wished he was anywhere else than there with them. Obeying, the blonde sat down on the steps as she looked at the ground to avoid the looks coming from her teammates and teacher.

"Okay, let's get this over with. When I call you, you will tell everyone your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future." Kakashi ordered as he crossed his arms. "You first pinky."

"Why don't you go first and show us how it's done, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Fine," Kakashi said with a roll of his one visible eye. "My name is Kakashi Hatake and I have many likes and a few dislikes. I suppose I have some hobbies and dreams, I have those I guess."

"All we got was your name!" Sakura shrieked in indignation at their teacher, voicing pretty much all three of the newly minted Genin's thoughts. Kakashi grunted and waved at Sakura in a sign for her to go. "My name is Sakura Haruno. The thing I like is...The person I like is...My hobby is..." Squealing while glancing at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye. "The things I dislike is Ino pig and..." Getting an unsure look in her eyes as her voice takes on less conviction. "And...blonde losers..." Taking a deep breath, "Should I tell you my dream for the future?"

"Probably not." Kakashi grumbled, "Next the brooding boy."

"I am not brooding!" Sasuke snapped, " And my name is Sasuke... Sasuke Uchiha. There are tons of things I dislike and I really don't like anything. I don't want to use the word dream, but my ambition is to resurrect my clan and to...kill a certain man."

"Well, doesn't that sound wonderful." Kakashi sighed while mentally cursing his luck, a fan girl, an emo avenger and the village monster. "And the blonde brat last."

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto sighed, clenching her fist as she saw the way Kakashi's eyes hardened when she said her last name. She realized he was another so called demon hater and there was nothing she could do about it as she was stuck on this team now. "I guess I like ramen and people who aren't blind assholes. I dislike people who judge others for something out of their control and the three minutes it takes for the water for the water to boil for my ramen." Naruto sighed, she added the bit about ramen to sound cheery, meaning it as a bit of a joke despite it being something she probably would have happily said before she graduated. "My hobbies are pranking and I...I don't think I have a dream any longer."

"What happened to becoming Hokage?" Sakura asked before she could stop herself, gasping at the dead look that crossed Naruto's expressive eyes.

"People have to care about you to become Hokage." Was Naruto's sad reply before Kakashi clapped his hands once to get their attention, ignoring the pained look of the blonde and the confused look of the pinkette's.

"That's all good and whatever, but we are wasting daylight hours. Normally this would be done first thing in the morning after team introductions, but I want to get this over with so I can get back to my life." Kakashi said, "I am going to give you a test to see if you are worthy of being a team or go back to the academy."

"That's not fair, we already passed the graduation exam!" Sakura shrieked in outrage.

"That was just to weed out the undeserving. No, this test is to see if you are actually ready to be a Genin and if you don't want to be sent back I suggest you get to training ground seven where I'm at right now within thirty minutes." Kakashi explained before vanishing in another puff of smoke. The only person who understand what just happened was Naruto as she had recognized the shadow clone for what it was when it dispelled.

"Let's get going." Sasuke grunted, "And you better hurry up this time loser."

"Whatever." Naruto huffed as she followed the Uchiha and pinkette. It didn't take long for the trio to arrive at the appointed grounds where Kakashi was leaning up against a tree reading an orange book that looked somehow familiar. It took a few moments to realize that it was the same book the blonde often saw the Hokage reading when he was supposed to be doing paperwork.

"Glad you could make it. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible." Kakashi said as he walked out into the small clearing where there were three stumps of wood. He took an alarm clock and sat it down on the middle stump before turning back around to face the students while tying two bells to his belt. "You have two hours to get these bells from me. Those who get one will become a true Genin and those who don't will be going back to the academy."

"That's not fair!" Sakura whined.

"Tough, you now have one hour and fifty eight minutes." Kakashi said before going back to reading his book. Sasuke and Sakura both took off into the tree line. Naruto stayed and looked up at Kakashi with a defeated look in her eyes.

"Why?" Naruto asked, hugging herself.

"Why what?" Kakashi sneered from behind his book.

"Why do you hate me? I'm not the fox." Naruto whispered to Kakashi. "What have I ever done to you?"

"You dare claim that demon!" Kakashi hissed at the blonde, keeping his voice low. It wouldn't due to let the other two students know as that would be a breach of the law. Since Naruto knew though it was okay to talk to the blonde about it. "I knew the fourth and his wife, I knew the child that was supposed to be used was a girl. You failed in your disguise monster. The Hokage may not see it, but I do."

"You...hate me because you think I'm a boy?" Naruto gulped. If she told him the truth would Kakashi stop feeling this hate towards her and thinking she was the demon?

"Get on with the test or fail, I really don't care. I don't want to spend my time teaching a demon much less any little brat. I have nothing to live for but my job, I don't need a bunch of snot nosed brats making my life more complicated." Kakashi snarled, his anger clearly growing.

"I'll prove I'm not the demon!" Naruto cried as she created several shadow clones and attacked Kakashi head on. She was surprised though when he wasn't shocked like Mizuki had been. Even worse, unlike Mizuki, Kakashi easily defeated each and every one of her clones.

"I doubt that, demon." Kakashi's voice said from behind her. Turning her head she saw his hands in a tiger seal too late to do anything. "Konoha secret technique, one thousand years of pain!"

The blonde screamed as she flew through the air, crashing down in a heap on the ground while curling into a ball. She was crying while rocking back and forth seeing the men around her again. She couldn't get the vision out of her mind despite hearing Lina'a voice at the edge of her consciousness urging her to calm down. It took her some time to calm down before realizing her head was in Sakura's lap while the pinkette gently brushed her hair and whispering calming things to her.

"I should fail all three of you. The blondes performance was just pathetic, emo boy thought he didn't need anyone and you Sakura, you only had eyes for Sasuke until the little crybaby freaked out." Kakashi's voice said breaking through the fog of the blonde's mind.

"What you did was uncalled for sensei!" Sakura snapped out angrily, "Can't you see that something is wrong with him?"

"Whatever, it isn't my problem." Kakashi growled out. He could fail them so easily, but seeing how the pinkette had actually helped the blonde with even Sasuke showing some concern showed that they would possibly become a close knit team. The Hokage would cut a fit if he knew Kakashi gave this test early and failed them after showing they could possibly work together. Sighing as he realized he didn't have a choice he said, "You three have one last chance. Be here at five in the morning and I will give you one last chance to pass this test and become full fledged Genin. Oh, and don't eat breakfast or you will be sick."

"Whatever." Sasuke growled, "I will be a Genin, I am a Uchiha."

"You are very full of yourself Uchiha. Be here and don't be late." Kakashi warned before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"Is he okay?" Sasuke asked, surprising the blonde by the small amount of worry that was evident in his voice.

"I don't know, I've never seen anyone freak out like that Sasuke. What could have happened to make him react like that?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing...just forget it." Naruto said as she crawled to her feet. She ignored the two's cries to wait as she ran from the training ground shaking violently. She just needed to get away from them, to get home.

'Calm down, kit.' Lina's voice urged in her mind.

'I don't care, I'm not going back. I can't take this anymore, I just can't!' Naruto sobbed as she ran to her apartment. She didn't notice the smoke until it was too late and ran into a group of people gathered around what was her apartment complex. She recognized them as the people who lived there but they were all gathered outside, some of them crying. It took her a few moments to calm down enough to realize why she was so hot. The entire building was a blaze, one giant inferno.

"This is your fault!" Came a cry from one of the people in the group before more angry cries joined in. Naruto tried backing away from them but more people closed in on her from behind blocking her in.

"Get the demon brat, this is his fault!" More cries claimed before a blunt object struck the blonde in the back knocking her to the ground before the mob began beating her.

* * *

I need help with these points, so if anyone knows let me know:

1) Money, according to tamara the currency used is in Ryo. How does the conversion for that work? Such as how much would it cost to spend the night in a decent inn and a cheap meal?

2) Names of towns...I need one large, non-ninja village. I think I remember a Tanzuna or Tanzuka or something that was a large gambling town, but I can't remember.

3) Police...Again, tamara stated that a regular police force is used though a village could hire ninja if they wanted to help out. So this question is pretty much answered unless anyone has anymore input.

4) Leaders...Who is in charge of a non-ninja village? A mayor? Some kind of fuedal lord besides the Damiyo? I know tamara said, "fedural lords and roalty(princesses,kings queens ect.)" I know the Damiyo controls all of Fire Country and a Kage is in charge of a ninja village. But what about the villages that are non ninja, is the person in charge of the vilage itself just referred to as Lord or Lady?

5) Year...What is the time frame around the graduation in the anime? Month and year? I really would like to know some kind of frame work for when events are taking place, but if not I'll just put Naruto's age at the time at the beginning of each chapter instead of a date.


	3. Act I Part III Leaving

**Siren's Song**

**Act I Part III  
**

**Leaving**

I do not own Naruto, if I did I wouldn't be writing on here instead of in a Manga. (Plus I would be able to draw more than a stick figure.)

Just a quick warning, though she may claim she doesn't want to be a ninja anymore, this is still Naruto and being a ninja is in her blood and she will become one so please don't worry.

Thanks Silently Watching for all of the great information and your review. I am trying very hard to make things somewhat realistic, though some of it is going to be impossible to keep realistic. For those things I want to keep as close to the anime that I can.

Thanks Silently Watching and Belldandy55555 for providing the name for Tanzuka Town. Also thanks Silently Watching, xGobi No Houkoux, and Aidis for the information on the currency. And thanks everyone for all of your reviews and comments on the story.

As usual I don't own Naruto or any of the names or likenesses of characters from other series.

Naruto Age 13

A dull, throbbing pain was the first thing she noticed upon slowly cracking her eyes open. She knew it was going to hurt, Lina had already told her that she would be awakening in the middle of the night. It was before she would be fully healed, but she needed to leave this place. As Lina said, she would never find peace here, much less acceptance from these people in this village. If she wanted to find happiness she would have to leave the village to do so and in order to leave she needed to sneak out. The best time to do that was during the night.

Sitting up in her hospital bed she groaned from her protesting muscles, her body still healing from both the beating she received and the layer of the seal she removed while she was out this time. Unlike the first layer, this one effected her body on the physical level while not changing her appearance. Before she would have been able to call upon Lina's demonic chakra in extreme circumstances, but now she could use it more freely while at the same time having a new source of energy to call from: Yokai.

It was going to be hard, but she knew she had to leave now. Her chakra pathways were raw from the surge of power the removal of the seal caused. It hurt too move too quickly, but as she crawled from the bed her she felt as if she had even more power than before. It was different than her chakra, she could even feel the difference from the chakra Lina generated within her. It felt so dark, but not in an evil kind of way.

'You are going to be very talented someday, kit.' Lina said, pride filling her and overflowing into Naruto herself. It gave her the strength to strip her hospital gown off and find her tattered orange jumper and sandals on a chair near the door. It only took a few moments to get dressed before she was ready to leave only to find the door locked. She forgot about that, though she never really needed to leave before. Only very few people were allowed in her room per the Hokage's orders. Only Naruto's personal doctor and the Hokage himself were supposed to be in here while there were two of the Hokage's personal ANBU guards right outside the door.

'Now what?' Naruto sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair.

'There are guards on the door, but not the window kit.' Lina said, as she formulated a plan to get her vessel out of there. 'Since you are already aware of your yokai, maybe it is time to teach you a spell.'

'As in magic? How the hell can I learn magic? I'm not a demon!' Naruto asked, confusion filling her. Growing up she heard the stories of how the demons used their terrible magic to wreak havoc on the land and terrorize the people. She never understood how people could fear a demon's power and attack her calling her one.

'It doesn't mater, you are now directly linked with my yokai. While most vessels are never able to even sense it if they accept the power, some others develop small traits such as my previous holder's ability to create and control chakra chains.' Lina explained, taking a gentle yet lecturing tone. 'However, there is always the chance that a vessel may be able to mold the yokai to their will. If someone can tap into the yokai enough, they can cast spells though I doubt anyone can do anything more than minor spells anymore.'

'Then how does that help us get out of here?' Naruto asked as she began growing hopeless at their prospects of getting out tonight.

'With ease and style if you can pull this off. You already have the groundwork more or less mastered for this spell. The shadow clone is the perfect primer for learning this spell and I'm confident that while you won't master it, you will be able to use it to create a human ladder to get to the ground since we are four stories up.' Lina said.

'Then why not use the shadow clone jutsu? I still hurt from everything, I'm not sure if I can do this.' Naruto sighed, she wasn't sure if she could pull this off. Mentally she knew her self confidence took a huge hit over the last couple weeks with all of the pain and suffering that she had been through. Knowing something and feeling or overcoming it was much different and much harder.

'Because the spell I am going to teach you can last a hell of a lot longer than a simple hit destroying it. It also has more benefits to it than the shadow clone to boot. The biggest reason though is it will sue up some of the excess power running through your body and relieve some of the pain...hopefully.' Lina said, mumbling the last part. The thing about mumbling when you have a mind link with someone is that they will hear it regardless unless it is shielded.

'Hopefully?' Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow proving that the comment wasn't shielded.

'Yeah...hopefully. This is kind of new ground with me here, all of my previous vessels fought the power merging with their system either on purpose or unconsciously. You on the other hand welcomed it with open arms, not to mention an open mind, which gives you much more access to my power than any of your predecessors.' Lina said while sending encouragement through her link with the blonde. 'I am going to teach you a demonic art, or spell if you prefer, called the Demonic Mirror Clone. You will create clones out of mirror shards and they will be exact copies of you down to scent and chakra levels, not to mention yokai.'

'What do I need to do?' Naruto sighed as she looked around the room looking for a mirror.

'In the bathroom, take the pillow and put it over the mirror and punch it just enough to break it.' Lina explained as she thought about this. If the blonde could truly pull this off then it would prove that Naruto could cast spells, or at least simple ones. Of course this spell was pretty much useless in a battle situation unless the clones were created before hand. If Naruto had allies to distract the enemy long enough to cast the spell then that would be one thing, but this world was much different than the old days when the sword and magic ruled. Now ninja was the predominant warrior and they were much faster than the swordsmen of old and they weren't going to sit still for a spell to be cast that could quickly turn the tide of battle.

With pillow in hand Naruto stalked into the bathroom and held the pillow up to the mirror while cocking her fist back and struck the center of it. She heard a soft crack, mostly muffled by the pillow before cocking her fist back to punch it one more time harder. Moving the pillow back she saw a handful of shards sticking to the pillow. 'Is this enough?'

'Plenty, now you need room to work so go back into the room and stand in the center. Spread the pieces of mirror out around you then I will go over the next step with you.' Lina directed as she watched her shard move from the bathroom to the main room and toss the pieces of broken mirror across the ground.

'Hey, won't this cause me seven years of bad luck?' Naruto joked as she tossed the pillow aside.

'There is no such thing as luck my dear kit, only luck there is is what we make.' Lina said while mentally picturing the runes and magic circles that would be needed for this spell. 'Concentrate on the circle and the symbols you see within it, don't lose focus on it.' Lina said before waiting the few moments it took for Naruto to get a firm grasp on the magic circle. 'Good, not imagine the circle around you on he floor, you in the center of it. Draw upon the dark energy that you feel, the yokai and fill the circle and symbols with it.'

'Like this?' Naruto asked softly as she clasped her hands together and held them over her heart as an invisible wind began circling around the blonde. As she closed her eyes, concentrating on the magic circle, a dark violet light filled the room as it traced out the magic circle and spun around her feet bathing the room in an eerie glow.

'Good, now fill the shards of the mirror with yokai, directing it to take form. Imagine them each turning into you as you continue pumping yokai into them.' Lina explained, proud of the girl as she sensed the shards of mirror floating into the air and expanding, taking shape.

"DEMONIC MIRROR CLONE!" Naruto instinctively whispered, her voice eerily low and yet loud at the same time. Flashing her eyes open she couldn't help feeling proud of herself for doing it on the first try.

'That's my girl!' Lina cheered as the blonde grinned. 'You are going to make an excellent sorceress.'

'What if I don't want to be though?' Naruto asked softly, almost afraid of disappointing or angering the fox.

'It is your choice, and in all honestly most of the spells that I am sure you can learn wouldn't help you much in battle. There may be some that can help you though, maybe enhance your jutsu some.' Lina explained before letting out a sad sigh catching the blonde's thoughts before they were voiced.

'I don't want to be a ninja anymore, I just want to get out of the village and find a place where I can be happy. A place where I can be accepted.' Naruto sniffed.

'Don't worry honey, if that is what you chose to do then I will do everything I can to help you find a place.' Lina said sadly. She was sad that such potential would go to waste, but she thought of the blonde as a daughter and already promised herself to help the child in any way possible. If it was down a path to find peace then Lina would do everything she could to see it happen. It was almost funny, a few centuries ago she wouldn't give a damn about humans really beyond amusement. The only person she could ever really say she cared anything for really was her old avatar and namesake.

'How do we get out of the village though, the gates are sealed at night.' Naruto asked as she wondered what the demoness had in mind.

'There is a small tunnel near the Hokage monument that you can use to sneak out.' Lina said, 'My last vessel used it all the time to get in and out of the village just to get some time away from the idiocy.'

'Then lets get going.' Naruto said happily.

XXX

Sakura couldn't understand why she was feeling they way she was as she stumbled toward the training grounds to her team meeting. She was so tired from the lack of sleep, but seeing the way the class idiot acted during their first test with Kakashi bothered the pinkette. She shouldn't care what happens to the loser brat that her mother warned her about. The loser that the parents of most of the class warned her about.

Even with Naruto being annoying always asking for dates, he never seemed like the monster her mother made her out to be. Her older sister had often warned her not to believe everything their mother said, but Sakura always marked that up to her mother not getting along with the eldest daughter. Their mother never let them forget that they had different fathers telling them both that neither man was worth a crap abandoning their family.

The things Naruto had said, telling the pinkette that he only ever wanted the friendship promised him had got the girl thinking. They were teammates now so maybe it was long past time she kept her promise of friendship to the blonde idiot and really get to know him. She knew something was seriously wrong with him after the reaction he had to Kakashi's stupid attack. Of course the attack was uncalled for, it was perverted and disgusting, but to make Naruto act the way he did was disturbing. The question was why did he act that way though?

"Where's the loser?" Sasuke asked drawing Sakura's attention away from her internal ponderings. Looking up she saw a slightly worried look on the boys face which made the pinkette swallow nervously. Was there something else wrong now?

"I haven't seen him yet, I just got here." Sakura said softly, unable to push away the uneasy feeling that was quickly growing.

"I went by where he was supposed to live." Sasuke said shocking the pinkette. Just how did Sasuke even know where their blonde teammate lived? Then again, even if the boy did seemed worried about the blonde the night before just as Sakura was, she was surprised he cared enough to take time out and go by Naruto's home to check in on the troublemaker. "It was burnt to ashes."

"His home burned down? Where did he stay at then?" Sakura asked, shocked that something like that would happen. Was the blonde okay, or was he hurt? They had to go find him.

"Good to see you both made it, but where is your teammate?" Kakashi asked, his arms crossed and an amused look in his eye.

"It's horrible, Kakashi sensei. Naruto could be hurt, his home burned down." Sakura said making the man look at her in confusion.

"I would have thought you would have been happy to be rid of the little monster. After all he was just a loser to your class, was he not?" Kakashi asked as he crossed his arms. "By the way, you fail since your third teammate didn't show up."

"You don't have to look so satisfied!" Sakura screeched angrily, "And what the hell do you mean by that?"

"I mean just what I said pinky, you FAIL." Kakashi chuckled, "And here I thought I might actually have to teach a Genin squad. Lucky me."

"Yes, lucky you." An angry voice said drawing not only Kakashi's attention, but the two students as well. A woman in ANBU gear and a cat mask crossed her arms while giving off an aura or anger towards the oldest member of the group. "The Hokage wants you in his office now, Kakashi! And he wants you to bring your students along. This is not a request either, but an order!"

"Whatever Cat, I'll be there shortly." Kakashi said as he waved off the ANBU, an action that only seemed to piss the woman off even more as she gripped her sword and pulled it slightly from it's sheath.

"Not in three hours Kakashi, in three minutes. If you are late you will be stripped of your rank and sent to Ibiki." Cat said before disappearing in a swirl of leafs.

"Damn it." Kakashi swore, "Meet me at the Hokage tower!" Kakashi growled before disappearing in his own swirl of leafs leaving his two students in confusion as to what just happened.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted before he started off toward the tower.

"Wait up!" Sakura called as she hurried to keep up with the Uchiha.

XXX

To say that he was growing too old for this shit would be an understatement as his day went from crappy to hell in a matter of two point five hours and there were no signs of it getting better any time soon. It all started with the headache he had from witnessing that farce of a test that Kakashi gave the Genin the night before. He would have went after Kakashi then, but he had to make sure that little Naru was okay.

Sadly he wasn't able to check up on her as he found her home burning and a mob of people attacking her. After he ordered ANBU to arrest the mob and have Erza meet him at the hospital, he rushed the young blonde to get medical treatment. Thankfully the blonde would yet again make a full physical recovery, but the child's mental health was in danger with all of the trauma that was forced upon her recently. It wasn't fair for any child to suffer all that young Naru had to at the hands of the very villagers that should be worshiping the ground she walked on for protecting them from the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

With a heavy heart the old man made his way to his office to find the very blonde he was worried about sitting in his chair. At first he was relieved to see that she was okay, but the sad defeated smile on the girl's face made his heart break. What happened next was something he never thought he would have to deal with.

"Please tell Ichiraku that I will miss them and that I love them. I'll miss you too old man, I always saw you as a grandfather." Naru said, her eyes tearing up as cracks started forming across her face.

"Naruto, what's going on?" Hiruzen asked taking a step closer to the girl only for her to shatter into bright sparkles that he later realized was mirror dust. This Naruto was some kind of strange clone and what she said made him summon his ANBU and send them and some trackers in search for Naruto. When each team returned they brought back a blonde child, only for the girl to smile at him and say that they were sorry before they repeated the shattering process. These strange clones completely fooled some of the best trackers the village had to offer.

Finally in hopes that he may have misunderstood the message, something he knew was a long shot, he spied on Kakashi to see if perhaps the blonde showed up for the Genin test. Seeing the short exchange between Jōnin and the Genin hopefuls enraged the Hokage as he ordered Cat to go demand Kakashi report to him or face the consequences.

Now he was sitting at his desk with Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke standing before him and he had no idea if he was doing the right thing. This would either wake them up or sign their death certificates. It was a calculated risk taking this step, but he already put into motion things that would completely change things here after poor Naru was raped. He had to continue with this, not because they had a right to know, but because he knew that they may have the best possible chance of bringing the blonde back because they were her classmates and would know things about her that the adults didn't know. It would also teach the children a very important lesson of the ninja world, to look underneath the underneath.

"Lord Hokage, you can't seriously expect me to pass this team if their third ember can't even be bothered to show up on time?" Kakashi asked, a little anger seeping into his voice as he ignored the glares of his would be students.

"Shut up, Kakashi!" Hiruzen growled as he sent a small does of killer intent at the three before him before doing several hand seals activating the seals around the room that created a sound proof barrier.

"What was that?" Sakura asked nervously as the air wavered around the office in a blue light for a moment.

"I have activated a sound proof barrier seal around this room as what we will discuss is a S class secret." Hiruzen explained as he steepled his fingers before his face and gave a calculating look at each of the trio before settling on Sakura. "None of you will speak unless I directly ask you or tell you to talk, is that made clear?"

"Yes Lord Hokage, Sir!" The three said, nervous energy surrounding them as they stood stiffly with their attention completely on the old man at the desk.

"Good, first of all I want to ask you all something very important. What do you think of your teammate Naruto Uzumaki?" Hiruzen asked as he looked over his steepled fingers at Sakura. "Miss Haruno, what do you have to say?"

"Well, he wouldn't make a very good ninja sir." Sakura said, pausing to lick her lips as they suddenly felt very dry. She wasn't too sure what she thought anymore about the blonde since she was worried about him, and if she really did hate him she wouldn't be, would she? "Before I would have said I hated him. He's loud, brash and not very talented nor smart."

"Yet he managed to paint the Hokage monument while avoiding any ANBU patrols noticing and evading them for hours once they did. To me, that seems like someone who is pretty skilled in stealth and evasion. And the pranks he pulled often showcased his skills in trap making." Hiruzen pointed out. "Tell me, why did you hate him before and yet now you seem almost worried?"

"My mom, she told me to stay away from him. That he came from a worthless family full of thieves and liars and she said he was a monster just like them, willing to murder anyone without a second thought." Sakura said while bowing her head. "I followed everyone else's lead in hating him, but after what happened during the bell test and his apartment burning down I'm worried about him. I can't say I hate him if I'm this worried can I?"

"No, you can't Miss Haruno, and I'm proud that you finally managed to start seeing past the hate. Sadly, it may be too late though." Hiruzen sighed sadly.

"What do you mean?" Sakura gasped.

"I will be getting to that in a few moments, first I want to hear your teammate's response." Hiruzen said shifting his gaze to Sasuke. "Well Mister Uchiha, care to tell me your feelings towards Naruto and why?"

"He is a dead last loser in the class, but truthfully...I can't say I hate him. I can't say I like him either, I don't have time for silly things like that. I need to get stronger, and attachments like that will only slow me down." Sasuke said making the Hokage give him a sad smile.

"Sasuke, I am sorry for failing you. I should have paid more attention to the reports from your doctor and I would have seen that it wasn't who I personally chose to oversee your care." Hiruzen said, rubbing his eyes a bit while cursing himself for how far down such a dark path the last Uchiha had come while being right under the Hokage's nose. He swore his so called friends and ex-teammates would pay for everything they had done behind his back very soon.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked as he glared at the aged man before them.

"I will tell you everything after this meeting as it is something personal regarding the murder of your clan." Hiruzen said while shaking his head as he already knew what the raven haired youth's response would be.

"Tell me now, I don't care if they hear or not." Sasuke demanded, taking one step forward angrily before realizing who it was he was dealing with.

"If you are sure." Hiruzen said.

"I'm sure." Sasuke grounded out.

"So be it. Sasuke, when your clan was killed I tasked Inoichi Yamanaka with seeing to your care. I didn't know it at the time as I had so much to do with the fallout of the massacre, but my advisors used my seal to forge documents changing who I picked to see to you to someone of their choosing. You were supposed to be told the truth behind what happened to your clan and helped through it. Instead the person who oversaw your care lied to you and sent you down a dark path of hate and vengeance." Hiruzen said, looking like he aged years during saying that.

"What do you mean? I need to avenge my family by killing my brother!" Sasuke snapped making Kakashi shake his head sadly and Sakura gasp in shock.

"Your brother didn't kill the Uchiha clan, three council members orchestrated it and forced your brothers hand. They were threatening to not only ill the fourth's legacy, but to cause civil war instead that would have had a much higher death rate. I was trying my best to negotiate a peaceful end to the hostilities, but these three fools went behind my back and told Itachi that either he do it and he could spare both your mother and you, or they would do it and leave no survivors." Hiruzen said rubbing his eyes, "While I may not have liked your father, I respected him and would have never allowed such an action and those bastards knew it!"

"That can't be, it has to be a lie!" Sasuke growled as his eyes began to tear up. "It was my brother's fault, I spent the last several years training to get revenge!"

"Sasuke." Sakura whispered softly, reaching out to take his hand and for one he let her as their fingers intertwined and squeezed his hand for support.

"It isn't a lie, and before you ask the reason Itachi showed you what he did and told you that you needed to hate him and get revenge is because of guilt. He wants to die for what he did, but he wants you to be the one to do it as he feels the last true Uchiha should do it and regain the clan's lost honor." Hiruzen explained, cursing himself for having to due this now. This should have been done years ago and the boy's issues should have been worked through by now. "Your brother loves you, Sasuke,"

"What about my mom, why did he kill her?" Sasuke asked as he was freely crying now.

"She defended your father and ended up being struck down by a stray kunai your father threw at Itachi when they were trying to use a pincher movement to subdue him." Hiruzen said sadly, "At least, according to the unofficial reports. "And before you ask, the reason he is a missing nin and this isn't widely known is because he begged me when I found out what happened to do it because he wanted to die. I pleaded with him not to, but I convinced him to at least try to live with the hopes of him maybe seeing the light and returning home. Right now he is a spy in a group of missing nins, but I have the paperwork right here..." Hiruzen says as he reached into his desk and pulled out a folder and sliding it across the desk to Sasuke opened the cover and peered down at an official paper dated years back declaring him innocent and undercover on a S class mission. "As you can see, your brother has a full pardon if he can ever be convinced to come home."

"What about my revenge?" Sasuke asked as he dropped to his knees with a defeated look. He didn't even push Sakura away when she kneeled down to embrace him, comfort him.

"I can't tell you who the council members are, but the Fire Daimyo has several people here in secret investigating them. They already have enough evidence to execute them for their crimes, but until the investigation is complete I can't give out their names. I can promise you that you will be the one to carry out their sentence." Hiruzen said with a sad smile. He could see a change in the boy already, he just hoped that it would be for the better when all is said and done.

"Thank you." Sasuke croaked out as Sakura stayed by his side lending him comfort and support.

"And you Kakashi, I already know your feelings. You hate Naruto thinking him to be the monster sealed inside of him. I have left you so many hints and I have even debated with telling you full out on so many occasions. You didn't earn the right to know though as you couldn't see what was right in front of you as you time after time refused to follow your own advice." Hiruzen said with a mixture of anger and sadness. "This is an S class secret that all of you are now bound by. To mention it to anyone is grounds for immediate execution."

"You're finally going to tell them about how that demon..." Kakashi asked hatefully.

"Shut up, Kakashi!" Hiruzen roared angrily, "If you bothered to even look at Naruto before Anko wrapped her up in her jacket then you would have realized that Naruto was a girl and not a boy! She was raped because of idiots like you who don't have faith in the fourth's skills in sealing despite him being known to outclass even Jiraiya in that regard!"

"Naruto...is a girl...and was raped?" Sakura gasped, sudden realization as to reason behind the blonde's actions the day before during the test. Sakura knew that victims of rape often had flashbacks to their attack which was what Naruto had fallen into after that idiot's attack.

"Your lying, Naruto is a boy and the fox taken human form!" Kakashi growled as he flexed his fist. He refused to believe it because if it was true then he had in effect abandoned the person who Minato had said would be like a little sister to Kakashi. "Please...you have to be lying!"

"No Kakashi, I'm not. I told her to hide her identity to help protect her from the very same thing that happened the night after she graduated. A group of men decided to punish her for becoming a ninja and found out her true identity. So instead of just beating her like they usually would, they decided to rape her as well. They idiots can't even get it through their heads that if Naruto was the demon then she would have destroyed the village by now after everything she has been put through." Hiruzen explained.

"Why do you keep mentioning a fox and demon? Are you talking about the Kyuubi?" Sasuke asked hoarsely as he began regaining his composure.

"Yes, the night the Kyuubi attacked the village the fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, faced the mighty demon. A demon can not be defeated, but it can be contained. It can be sealed inside of a human body keeping it's powers at bay, but it has to be a newborn baby." Hiruzen explained.

"And Naruto was that baby and the fourth's legacy?" Sakura asked, shock written on her face and soon Sasuke's as well.

"Yes, Naruto is actually Naru Uzumaki-Namikaze. Thanks to all of her father's enemies such as Iwa, she was given her last name and her heritage hidden until she became Chūnin to protect herself from them." Hiruzen said, "Though Kakashi should have known better, but he was too busy bending over for the council to be their fuck puppet and kissing their asses to put his prejudice aside."

"You should have told me!" Kakashi snapped.

"I would have if you proved that you had a brain for yourself!" Hiruzen shouted as he slammed his hands on the table. "If you and the other idiots took your jobs as ANBU seriously then Naru would not have ran away from the leaf!"

"She what?" Sakura asked, pleading for her to have heard that wrong.

"I've sent teams to track her down, but so far they've all come back with her clones. They were a special, physical type that was an exact copy that no one has ever seen before. I don't know where she learned them, but she escaped and I can't really blame her." Hiruzen said before shooting a glare at all three of them. "If I hear any hint of this outside this office though, I will hold all three of you responsible and all three of you will be executed for treason by giving out classified information."

"I'm so sorry." Kakashi sighed, though Hiruzen wasn't too sure who it was directed to and he didn't care. In his aged eyes, the apology was too little and way too late.

"Since team seven can not function without a third member and there are no other Genin available to put on your team I am left with two options. First I can send you back to the academy for another year, but that would actually look bad in your files. While I admit a part of me wants to send you back, I think you two deserve another chance. You on the other hand Kakashi, I'm not so sure you do however I will be giving you another chance." Hiruzen said, giving an almost evil smile. "You need to relearn what it truly means to be a ninja of the Hidden Leaf, so you will be reduced in rank to that of Genin and for the next six months you will be rotating between Genin teams and if you can manage to prove that you still have the will of fire, I will restore you to Jōnin and be team seven's sensei. Miss Haruno and Mister Uchiha, you both will be taking a six month remedial course that will be off the books along with a special case that arrived here in Konoha recently. He is a young man with a very interesting Kekkei Genkai that is a survivor of a village that was attacked by pirates. An ANBU border patrol spotted him and brought him back here and he was offered a place to stay. If you can get along with him and prove that you can overcome your childish ways, the three of you will become team seven."

"I guess I deserve that." Kakashi sighed earning him a glare from the Hokage, though the old man didn't say anything.

"Thank you Sir." Sasuke and Sakura said, both obviously depressed as they started to remove their headband.

"Keep them, for now you will keep your ranks as Genin though on an unofficial probationary period. There is one more stipulation for Sasuke though. You will be seeing Inoichi Yamanaka and receive psychiatric help and at the end of the six months you will also be given a psychiatric evaluation and you will need to pass it to stay a ninja." Hiruzen said.

"Yes sir, I promise that I won't let you down." Sasuke said as determination and fire showed in his eyes, only this time the darkness and hate seemed to be gone from his eyes unlike when he came in with a look of hatred for anything in his path.

"I'm sure you won't." Hiruzen said, giving the youths a small smile. He had high hopes for this generation, especially when he personally welcomed each of the new teams and personally saw to it that their eyes were opened. "If you would like, you can go meet your new teammate at the Library where Iruka is tutoring him right not. His name is Gray Fullbuster and I'm sure you will give him a warm welcome and help him settle in."

XXX

It was getting late in the day when Naruto finally slowed down, her legs burning in pain from pushing them nonstop since way before dawn. Her two clones that were left wasn't showing any signs of tiring though which made Naruto grimace. She idly thought about making them carry her, but she quickly batted that idea aside.

'Good, you don't want to et lazy.' Lina joked, though she quickly turned serious. 'You did a great job escaping and coming so far, but did you have to really send a clone to the Hokage and tell him you were leaving?'

'I had to let him know that I was okay and that I did love him. He was like a grandfather to me.' Naruto sighed, getting ready to argue the point when she heard a scream from up ahead. At first she thought why bother, no one ever helped her really until way after her attacks were over. She couldn't let it go though as she knew how much it hurt when she was all alone with no one to turn to. 'Anyway I can create more of those clones, Lina?'

'Not without a mirror, and we don't have any at the moment.' Lina explained, 'Try using shadow clones and your remaining two mirror clones. Just...be careful, okay?'

'Believe me, I plan to.' Naruto said with a grin as she made the hand seal for the Kage Bunshin and created fifty more clones before whistling in appreciation at the amount she made. "Okay, let's get to work!"

Not even two minutes later the sea of blondes made it to where the scream came from to find an over weight man in his middle ages knocked to the ground with two thugs standing over them with old, rusty looking kunai. From what she could tell and by Lina's input, they guessed that the two were pretty much unskilled highway robbers. It didn't take long either to prove the fact as the mob of shadow clones had defeated the robbers and had them tied up back to back with their own spool of ninja wire.

"Thank you so much kind sir, I don't know what I would have done if you haven't come by." The older man said bowing to the blonde. "All my money was already stolen earlier and they wouldn't believe me. All I have is my goods on my cart and they were going to kill me and take it all. It isn't worth much, I'm just a used instrument dealer, but I have a wife and child at home and..."

"It's okay, don't sweat it old man." Naruto said nervously as she backed a few steps away while waving the man off as she dispelled her clones. Wincing as she realized that two of the clones that the thugs actually defeated were her last mirror clones.

"I don't have a lot, but please take this." The man said as he walked over to the cart and started digging through the tarp covered junk in the back. A few moments later he pulled out a case and a few books.

"I don't need anything, honest." Naruto said trying to wave the man off, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. He pushed the case and books in her arms making her look down at the cover of the book on top of the case she was now holding. It read, 'Beginner Instructions on the Fiddle.'

"It isn't much, but I want you to take it." The man said before turning to dig in the cart again. A few moments later he pulls out an old cloak and also shoves it into the blonde's arms with the case holding the fiddle and the books.

'Ask him if he has an extra map.' Lina urged making Naruto balk for a moment. She didn't want to ask the man for something after he had already given her so much. 'We need to see where we are and where we are going.'

"I really don't need all of this stuff sir, but if you maybe have an extra map." Naruto asked softly while trying to hand the stuff over to the older man. Instead he pushed it back while pulling a folded map out of his pocket and handed it over.

"It's fine, I already have this route memorized and after the trouble I had on this trip I think I will set up a shop back home where I don't have to risk traveling." The man sighed. "It's such a shame too, I really enjoyed the traveling."

"If your sure old man." Naruto said reluctantly as she held her new things close to her. They may have been used, but they were hers now. She felt a little bad taking them, but as the man bid her goodbye she started off again and headed back off the path. As she got to some shade under a large tree she decided to sit under it and take a break.

'It's a good thing that you didn't give him your name, but perhaps you shouldn't go under your name anymore.' Lina said, 'At the very least, you should use your real name to help throw off any pursuers. Though you should come up with a fake name if you really plan to hide or start a new life.'

'I'll think about it.' Naruto, or as she guessed she should go by now Naru sighed mentally as she looked through the books, There weren't a lot, but they looked like enough to get her started on learning the basics at least.

'You know, I do know how to play several instruments myself. I know some old songs that I bet most people don't even know if you are interested.' Lina suggested as Naru leaned back against the tree.

'Maybe...it could be fun, and I do want to learn something different than being a ninja.' Naru said as she closed her eyes a few moments.

'I really think you shouldn't give up on that, but I won't pressure you. Just think about it.' Lina said, sadness permeating her voice as she talked to her vessel and friend. 'For now, lets look at the map.'

'Good idea, let's see where we are exactly.' Naru said as she sat up and unfolded the map in her lap.

'It looks like we are here.' Lina said while marking the map mentally so Naru could see it. 'I suggest we go to Tanzaku Town, it looks like a large city that we should be able to get lost in.'

'Okay, let's get going then, I want to get there by nightfall.' Naru said happily as she stood up and looked at the cloak a few moments before pulling it on and using the strap on the fiddle to sling it over he back. A few moments later she had the few books gathered in her arms and began moving toward the direction Lina indicated.

'Naru...I know it looks close on the map, but at a safe pace for you it could take a couple weeks to get there if you want to stop and take rests and learn a little about your new instrument.' Lina explained. 'Plus, if you aren't going to be a ninja you need something to make money with. You can panhandle to make money if you get good enough.'

'Panhandle? And how would I get good enough that fast? Wouldn't it take a while to get used to playing the fiddle?' Naru asked curiously.

'Not if you use your shadow clones. Your clones can work on the mental part of learning, but sadly they won't transfer muscle memory. When we can get some more mirrors the mirror clones can transfer muscle memory, but not actual muscle.' Lina explained, 'By using your clones to learn the knowledge, you can take some time every day after we travel to practice it.'

'Okay, let's get going then!' Naru said, hope actually filling her for once as though her future looked like it may be hard it looked like it had potential. It was her choice and her future and she intended to make it a happy one.


	4. Act I Part IV Traveling

**Siren's Song**

**Act I Part IV**

**Traveling**

Naruto Age 13

"I think maybe you have had enough, buddy." The bartender said sadly, giving the cycloptic ninja a look of sympathy. Kakashi didn't give a crap though what the pudgy little man thought though as he slammed the bottle down on the counter with a loud bang.

"When I can no longer think, then it will be enough. Until then keep them coming until I say so or I'll make you regret it." Kakashi said angrily. He knew deep down he didn't mean it, he would never really hurt someone like that for no good reason. He was a good person, a caring person, and yet...he hurt her so much. He caused a lot of that poor child's suffering and it was because he was a fool.

"Two beers." A familiar voice said from just over Kakashi's shoulder as a hand slapped several paper bills on the counter. He recognized the ryo was more than what the beer was worth, but the owner of the hand didn't wait for change. Instead, they grabbed the two bottles and yanked the silver haired man off the bar stool.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kakashi demanded with a slight slur. Looking up he blushed a bit seeing the mesh covered chest of Anko, her tan coat being the only thing that really hid anything.

"If you want the beers, shut up and come on." Anko snapped as she dragged Kakashi to a corner booth and shoved him down in it before sitting on the other side.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kakashi asked, his one visible eye red and bloodshot.

"I'm assuming you are talking about the girl. I advise you not to say too much as the law is still the law and as pissed as I am with you, I don't want to see you getting in any more trouble than you already are." Anko sighed as she shoved a bottle into his hand. He nodded in thanks before tearing the top off and taking a long swig of the honey colored beverage that was dulling his pain.

"Yes, her. I would have never..." Kakashi started but the glare the woman gave him shut him up. He knew, even in his inebriated state, not to piss this woman off as she was one of the few that really scared him.

"First off, I never knew until that night. Only thing I wish I did different was let those bastards live so Ibiki and myself could make them suffer before they died. Second, the old man made me promise not to tell anyone as it was a S class secret. And third, we both know you still would have treated the brat the same exact way! You were looking for someone to blame for Minato's death and the brat was the easiest target. Especially since you were listening to the council and the idiot civilians too much." Anko said, her voice wavering between anger and sadness as she popped her own bottle open and took a drink.

"I would have done something, helped her in some way!" Kakashi said, his voice full of conviction while his eyes, though dull with alcohol, full of doubt.

"Kakashi, I know you thought of them as your family. I loved them also, they were some of the few people who treated me kindly when everything with Orochimaru went down. I miss them, more than you know, but blaming someone for what happened was never the way to honor them." Anko said softly, taking the man's free hand in her own. "They taught you better than that, but you let the council fuck with your mind. You let them poison you, let them add that venom on top of your grief and hate for the fox."

"Anko...I don't know what to do..." Kakashi sighed in resignation. He honestly didn't know what to do, it was how he found himself in this position. He never truly recovered after his father killed himself. Then when he lost Obito he became even more lost, but Rin and Minato as well as Kushina helped him cope. Then he lost Rin, again it being his fault, and he almost completely slipped into the darkness that was threatening to consume him. Both of his teammates were killed in action and it was his fault. If his first team wasn't bad enough, two other teams that he was placed with were wiped out because he just wasn't good enough to stop their enemy during the war.

It was Minato and Kushina that took him in as an unofficial member of their family, gave him a purpose to keep on living. For a very short time he actually thought every thing was going to be okay, especially when Kushina announced that she was pregnant. Then he was told that they had to go to a private place when the redhead had gone in labor and Kakashi had to stay behind in worry. It wasn't even several hours when the bestial roar shook the village signaling the demon's assault.

So many gave their lives that night including his beloved sensei and father figure and mother figure. He was a failure, he should have done more to help out yet he was forced to help make sure the villagers safely made it to the emergency bunkers. When he heard the news it broke him until Danzo had come to him, explained everything about how the demon had stolen the fourth's likeness to recover from the devastating blow Minato had dealt it. The old war hawk had given Kakashi a new reason to go on, though not only enough to survive and not really live. He buried himself in his ANBU work that Danzo helped him get and until recently that was what Kakashi did.

His job was everything to him, even staying much longer than most ANBU ever stayed. He had the best record of any ANBU, the respect of many of his peers except when it came to one person...Naruto. Of course many ANBU was more than happy to see the little blonde ball of energy suffer. When he was given watch he often neglected his duties watching the kid, and for some reason he got away with shirking those duties in favor of losing himself in the past. The few ANBU that cared for the boy grew to hate Kakashi, and that anger grew slowly throughout the ANBU ranks as the blonde gained more and more support.

"Do you want to know what I think you should do?" Anko asked, taking a deep breath when Kakashi nodded. "Okay then, I believe that you should start over. If the kid comes back apologize to her and bend over backwards making everything up to her. If she doesn't, don't give up. Keep going on and keep doing your best to be the man I know you can be if you would just get your head out of your ass and your nose out of that damned book of yours. Do your best to make it up to the old man and teach those brats what it means to be real ninja. That way when we do find the girl, you can be the big brother you were supposed to be,"

"I can't take a team, Anko." Kakashi sighed as he drained the bottle of what was left and gladly accepted the nearly full bottle Anko slid over to him.

"And why not, you always fail teams. You can be a great teacher if you try." Anko said, slowly growing worried when Kakashi began tearing up.

"Because I'll get them killed...like I always do..." Kakashi croaked out.

"Oh Kashi." Anko sighed as she moved to sit next to the cycloptic man and drew him into a hug offering him some comfort from his demons.

* * *

"I can't believe this, you lied to me all of these years!" Sakura screeched as her mother stared her down with a hateful glare.

"I will tell you one last time, Sakura." The older woman snarled, jealousy and anger filling her being as she shoved the her daughter away from her. "The fucking whore came here from a clan of murderers and took away the man that was supposed to be mine! I spent years throwing myself at that prick's feet just to be noticed for him to have a child with that harlot! He was MINE! Thanks to her I had to settle for a pathetic lowly merchant who left me!"

"If this is how you acted around him I can see why!" Sakura snapped back, "Is this why my dad left to? He couldn't deal with your lies and hypocrisy?"

"You little bitch!" The woman snarled slapping Sakura hard enough to knock her off her feet to crumble off the ground. "I have done everything for you both, and you both continue to defy me! Your worthless sister failed to marry into the Yamanaka clan and you are barely an average Genin! You both are failures!"

"You are the failure." Sakura whispered harshly as she held her stinging face knowing it would probably bruise as she climbed unsteadily to her feet.

"Get out of my home." The woman spat while giving Sakura a harsh glare. "You are so proud of being a Genin, considered an adult now. Well, since you are you can take your filthy demon loving ass and get out of my home! I will not have an ungrateful daughter under my roof."

"You know what, I don't want to stay under the same roof as a woman who spreads her legs for anyone willing to buy her a cheap beer!" Sakura growled as she drew a kunai as the woman lunged at her. The woman stopped just in time to save herself from being skewered on the sharp blade while mother and daughter locked eyes just inches a part.

"Get out and don't ever come back." The woman snarled.

"Gladly." Sakura snarled back, fighting back tears as she turned and stormed out of her home not caring that it was already dark out. Instead she wondered the streets as her heart slowly crumbled away. She knew she would have an argument with her mother, the woman was never mother of the year, but she never dreamed that anything like this could happen. She could feel the tears burning her cheeks, her face throbbing from her mother's strike.

"What happened to you, pinky?" An unwanted voice asked drawing Sakura's gaze up to see her supposedly new teammate Gray sitting on a set up steps leading up to a somewhat familiar house. She cheeks grew pink as she stared at his bare chest a few moments as she realized he was only wearing his boxers.

"Put some clothes on, you pervert!" Sakura snapped as her inner persona just drooled at the sight before her.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Sasuke asked as he stepped down out of the house that the steps led up to making the girl realize why the are looked familiar. She had somehow managed to stumble through town and end up in front of her crush. She blushed even more when the raven haired youth stepped down to gently caress her cheek around the forming bruise. "Who did this to you?"

"My...my mother!" Sakura sobbed before collapsing into a shocked Sasuke's arms who after a moment wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed out the entire scene of what happened to her.

"And people say I'm cold." Gray sighed in an attempt to lighten the mood as he patted the pinkette girl's back.

"You can stay here with us." Sasuke said softly, a little surprised at how easily he made the offer. It was the second time that day as he offered his new teammate a room in his home as well after finding out his place was in the same complex as Naruto's was. Before he wouldn't really have cared much, but after his world was turned upside down he wasn't sure what to think. All he knew was that he was actually a little happy to have company here since he had a feeling that he was going to need the support, the same support Sakura needed now and he intended to give.

* * *

It was a calm, cool evening as Naru leaned against the trunk of an apple tree, several cores laying around her from her dinner. She held her fiddle a little clumsily as she went over the information her shadow clones learned while traveling. She was sure that she had the basics down as she brought the bow to the strings and brought it along them in a horribly loud screech making her flinch.

'Patience kit, the fiddle is a good instrument though it takes a little time to get used to it.' Lina said in an encouraging tone inside of the blonde's head. Taking a deep breath as Naru knew what the woman said was true from all of the information that she absorbed from the shadow clones throughout the day. It was a little weird all of a sudden getting knowledge you never knew shoved in your head all of a sudden, but when she got more used to it she knew it would be a huge help in learning anything she wanted.

Smiling at that thought, Naru glanced up into the night's sky basking in the unusually bright light from the full moon. It was beautiful and she was free, and she had never felt this good in her entire life despite being a little afraid. Thankfully Lina was with her and kept the blonde from becoming to afraid as the woman often offered warmth and support through their link during the day. Now she was helping Naru go through the memories and try to put the knowledge to use as she messed with her new instrument.

Preparing herself for another horrendous screech, Naru lifted the instrument and bow again to be pleasantly surprised to find the sound to be a lot better than the previous attempt. It was still an ear splitting howl, but it no longer wanted to make her ears bleed. With tips from Lina and practice, it only took about an hour to not only get used to holding the instrument and bow, but playing the warm up scale as well. True it wasn't flawless, but at this rate she would be playing songs in no time flat.

'Look at it this way,' Lina had joked, 'With all the noise there won't be any wild animals brave enough to even think about coming close.

At first Naru gave the woman a mental glare while the demoness just gave an image of innocence. After a few moments the two burst into a fit of giggles that lasted several long minutes.

"I better get back at it if I want to figure this out." Naru finally wheezed out before she brought the instrument up again into place and began again.

* * *

It was two days later that Naru finally stumbled into a small village exhausted and hungry. She had found out an important fact since leaving Konoha that she would have to change, she sucked at hunting. Thankfully though she was lucky to find several apple trees and a small grove that had wild strawberries growing. Still, she would kill for some kind of meat!

Pulling out the money purse again that she picked up off a bandit that was stupid enough to attack her yesterday, she looked at the strange money. All she ever knew was Ryo, this money seemed foreign to her and sadly Lina wasn't much help with it. She was hoping to find someone who would sell her a huge meal with loads of any kind of meat. Maybe some chicken, or pork or maybe even beef! She failed to notice the bead of drool leaking out of the corner of her mouth

'Snap out of it Naru, people are going to think you escaped from the hospital if you keep drooling like that.' Lina laughed gently breaking the blonde out of her fantasies making the young girl wipe the liquid away with the back of her hand.

'What do we do?' Naru asked looking around. There were a few small farms and houses as well as a large building with a sign that simply said 'INN' as well as a few shops.

'Pull your cloak's hood and try to keep from showing off too much.' Lina instructed as the blonde did what was asked. 'We can stay here tonight if there is enough money, but this is an outpost.'

'An outpost?' Naru asked with worry since she basically knew what an outpost was. It was a place where merchants would stay and rest between major towns. More importantly though it was a place where patrols stayed during the night to rest, many of the patrols being ninja from Konoha. 'What if they see me? I can't hide in something like this?'

Sadly that was true. While she was able to outrun ANBU easily in Konoha there were so many places to hide. Here, it was pretty much all open and if someone recognized her there wouldn't be much of a chance to escape if they caught on to her.

'There is a way, but it means removing another layer of the seal.' Lina said tentatively. She didn't want the blonde to think that she was using the girl like those bastards in Konoha. Those humans were the real monsters no matter what anyone said.

'I don't think you are using me, Lina.' Naru said softly, giving the fox demoness a gentle smile. 'I trust you.'

'Thank you.' Lina said softly, before continuing with more confidence. 'First of all go back to the small stream so we can see if it will reflect you image.'

'Okay.' Naru said as she hurried back to the small stream that seemed to have plenty of fish. At least she knew where to get some food if she couldn't buy any later. Instead of worrying about it now she went back a few feet to a small tree and leaned back against it and closed her eyes. After just a few moments she was standing in her mind standing on a grassy hill where Lina kneeled waiting for her. She had to admit she liked the changes to her mind since leaving Konoha.

'I'm not too sure how you will react since it is pretty close to removing the others, but it will be the easiest way to hide if it works.' Lina explained as she summoned her tails and cradled the blonde in them as she kneeled next to her. 'This will give you an ability similar to the blood line limits some ninja have. There is even a possibility that you can someday pass it on to children if I make a few changes later if you like.'

'What is it?' Naru asked with a mixture of excitement and the smallest bit of fear.

'You will be able to shapeshift.' Lina said, wishing she phrased it a little better upon seeing the blonde's eyes.

'So I can change into anything?' Naru asked as images of her flying through the skies as a hawk or running through the forest as a fox flitted through her mind.

'I'm sorry, Kit, but no.' Lina said as she hugged the girl to herself a few moments. 'What it will do if you can quickly get the hang of it is change small features such as hide your whisker marks or change the color of your eyes or hair. Sadly you have to grow your hair long if that is what you want to do. Later on you might, and I say might, be able to do more as you remove more seals. The more seals you remove the more powerful your abilities will become. This is the last layer I want you to remove for at least a month, our body needs to rest and adjust more to everything that has already happened.'

'Okay.' Naru sighed, clearly disappointed at not being able to change into other things. She was happy that she would be able to hide in plain sight though if ninja was around. Actually, it would be a good ability if she was still going to be a ninja, but she was leaving that life behind.

As usual the removal of the layer of the seal was easily done, though it also had consequences. She was getting used to those though as the headache it brought wasn't so bad. Thankfully her body wasn't aching like it did when she gained the ability to use yokai.

'Okay, now what?' Naru asked waking back up in the real world and crawling over to the stream. Sitting on the bank she leaned over the edge and saw her image reflected back clearly in the gentle movement of the water.

'This next step can be very easy or very hard depending on the person and their attention span. I'll help you keep it up for now, but when you go to sleep you will automatically change back to normal.' Lina explained, 'Let's start with the whiskers. Concentrate on them, see them in your mind and in your reflection. See the marks fade, make them change in your mind and will them to disappear.'

Naru watched in awe as the marks that she had for so long faded away from sight. A part of her was a little saddened as she rubbed the now flawless skin where the marks once were. They were a part of her, always had been, and seeing them vanish made her feel as if a small part of her vanished as well.

'I'm sorry Kit.' Lina said softly while sending support, love and encouragement over their link. 'It's the safest thing to do for now though.'

'I know, now what?' Naru asked as she ran fingers through her hair knowing that it would most likely be next if she didn't want to stand out. 'Should I change it to be red?'

'No, make it black. And while you are at it try and make your eyes brown as well.' Lina suggested, 'This will be much better than a henge because it can not be undone unless you let it be or go to sleep.'

Staring hard at her reflection she concentrated on her image again, slowly seeing streaks of black wash through her short hair. It wavered several times changing back to blonde before finally all of her hair changed to black. Blinking a few times she was surprised to see her eyes were already brown. Looking at herself she had to admit that she did look good with dark hair, but she missed the blonde all the same.

'Good, let's see if we can find a merchant that has something different that you can wear.' Lina said as Naru climbed to her feet and headed back into town. Neither of them knew if they would take the strange looking coins that they had on them, but hopefully they would have enough for clothing and at least a cheap decent meal. Screw the room, if they could just get a good meal the newly made raven haired girl would be happy.

The few stalls set up outside from traveling merchants was all a bust as no one had anything that they could use. Thankfully though they lucked upon a small building with a worn sign, the paint almost faded completely off, with a spool of thread and a needle. Upon Lina's urging Naru went inside to see mostly women's clothing and bolts of fabric on shelves and on wooden mannequins.

'No way am I wearing any of this.' Naru said as she shook her head in defiance. Though she already agreed that maybe it would be better to hide as a girl, seeing the dresses was a little too much. Most of them would draw too much attention to herself, and that was if they could even find anything in her size.

'You don't have to wear any of this stuff, besides most of this is for formal occasions.' Lina said curiously, wondering why they woman had so many fancy looking gowns at a trading/guard post such as this. 'Just ask the woman working at the counter if she has anything your size. Ask for a dress to, I promise you everything will be okay.'

'Fine.' Naru sighed. She really did trust the fox demoness, after all it was thanks to Lina that she was finally free from the hate.

Making her way over to the counter Naru couldn't help but admire some of the dresses, she couldn't help imagining that she had a normal life where she grew up in a loving home. She would have friends and family that loved her and she possibly would be wearing some of the beautiful gowns.

"I'm sorry boy, but I have a large order to do and would appreciate it if you didn't stand around gawking an my work." The woman huffed from where she was working at a table that doubled as a counter while glaring out of the corner of her eye.

"Do you have any dresses that would fit me?" Naru asked softly, her nervousness getting the better of her under the withering stare from the woman.

"I refuse to help fuel your perverse fantasies, now get out!" The woman snapped angrily as she turned to look at Naru fully.

"Sorry?" Naru asked in surprise, not sure what the woman meant by that.

"Wait, your a girl?" The woman asked, her voice much softer as her eyes softened just a bit while studying the younger girl. "What are you doing wearing such a ridiculous getup? And what happened to your hair?"

"This is all I have." Naru said softly, all of a sudden feeling embarrassment wash over her for some reason. Normally she wouldn't give a damn about what people said about her, but this woman was making her feel as if she was doing something wrong.

"Oh dear." The woman gasped as she abandoned her work and grabbed Naru by the shoulders and studied her. After several moments the woman started circling Naru looking the girl up and down with a studious gaze. "We can't have you running around in rags like that. Are you and your family passing through?"

"I'm alone, Ma'am." Naru said softly before Lina could stop her. Lina quickly came up with a cover story though and told her host what to say. "And yes, I'm just passing through. I'm heading to Tanzuka Town to meet my father since my mother died recently."

"You poor dear." The woman said, "How much money do you have to spend on clothing dear?"

"I'm not sure, do you take these?" Naru asked pulling out the money purse and handed it to the woman who took it and peered into it.

"You don't know how to use standard currency?" The woman asked in shock.

"All I've ever seen is ryo." Naru said.

"Sit over here." The woman said leading Naru over to the woman's vacated chair and pushed the girl down into it while pulling a money box out from under the table. Taking out a coin similar to the few Naru had and two others, one silver and the other gold. "Each country has their own currency, the Land of Fire being the ryo. However about ten years ago all of the countries agreed on one of the annual summits to also bring back an older type of currency that can be used in any of the countries which is the standard currency. This..." The woman said showing Naru the copper colored coin, "Is a copper piece. One hundred of these equal this, a Silver piece." The woman said showing the silver coin off before showing the last coin. "And finally this is a gold piece and it is worth one hundred silver pieces. Now your basic ryo is worth five copper pieces."

"I can't afford anything at all!" Naru whined pathetically while dropping her head on the table.

"Don't worry dear, if you want I have a dress in the back I can give you as well as a few other things. Normally I don't agree with children traveling long distances on their own, but I have a feeling that you are from Konoha." The woman said, making Konoha sound like a curse. "I'm more than happy to help a child get away from there and I'm sure you are trained to take care of yourself."

"How can I pay you though?" Naru asked softly.

"Don't worry dear, you getting away from that horrible place and letting me help is payment enough. Anytime I can stick it to that place I'm more than happy to do so, just don't tell anyone." The woman said, "By the way, my name is Hikari."

"My name is Naru." Naru said as she started to feel even more comfortable around this woman. A part of her was a little scared that it was going to turn out to be a trap, but as Lina said this woman didn't know them and from what the demoness could tell this Hikari was being truthful.

About a half hour later of trying on old outfits out of a couple boxes the woman brought out from the back, Naru found three peasant dresses that fit her pretty well. Two were brown and white and the third was a blue and white. Right now she was wearing one of the brown ones while the woman took a traveling pack and carefully put the extra dresses in it. Besides the dress though, Naru was also wearing a pair of traveling boots that was also brown. And lastly, she was wearing underwear that the woman gave her new from the shelf including a real bra that supported and accentuated her breasts rather than bind them.

'I'm still not too sure about this.' Naru said while looking herself in the mirror. She was surprised when Hikari came up from behind her and placed a black wig with long hair that fell midway down Naru's back on the girl's head and straightened it out.

"No girl should have to suffer such a disgusting haircut sweetie. I don't know what happened to your hair, but you can have this until you grow yours back." Hikari said, hands on the younger girl's shoulder while they both stared into the mirror. "You look ravishing my dear, the boys won't be able to keep their hands off you."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Naru sighed in disgust.

"What was that dearie?" Hikari asked as she toyed with the fake hair.

"Thank you very much, Ma'am. Are you sure there's nothing I can do to repay you?" Naru asked as she slammed down on the creeping doubt and fear that was trying to get control of her.

"Well, if you want I would love to hear a song if you have time to play." The woman said with an encouraging smile.

"I'm still pretty new, but I would love to." Naru said with a bright smile to the woman. The woman went to sit back down in the main part of the shop again where Naru first saw her as the younger girl unpacked her fiddle and checked it over. After a few moments Naru lifted the instrument and began playing a simple song that her clones memorized. At first she was a little nervous, but as she saw Hikari's face and the large smile on it, it filled the younger girl with confidence.

"That was wonderful!" Hikari cooed as she clapped enthusiastically.

"Thank you." Naru said blushing a bit, though she was so happy that the woman liked it.

"Hmmm, you know, the Inn's bard ran off recently. I bet old Tai would be willing to give you a discount on a meal and a room if you play for the customers tonight." Hikari said thoughtfully, "Tell the old fart that I sent you."

"I will, thank you again so much!" Naru said as she hugged the older woman.

* * *

The inn was dimly lit with torches hanging along the walls and a roaring fire in the fireplace as people crowded the tables eating, drinking and laughing loudly. A few people turned to look at her in curiosity before going back to their meals. Making her way over to the bar itself Naru say a middle-aged overweight man pouring a glass of amber colored liquid for someone.

"Are you Tai? Hikari sent me." Naru said nervously as she started feeling closed in on all sides from the men there. Thankfully there were women also which helped a bit and Lina's constant presence and support helped Naru control herself.

"And if I am?" The man grunted in annoyance.

"She said you might be looking for someone to play for you." Naru replied, a little unsure if this man was going to let her or even if she wanted to.

"I don't pay cash kid, but I'll give you a shot. I'll give you a free meal if you are good and a discount on your room. Also, you get to keep any tips you make." Tai said, "Take it or leave it."

"I'll take it." Naru said, "What do I do?"

"This your first time kid?" Tai asked giving her a critical eye, "You better be good if you want anything from me."

"Hikari liked my music." Naru said, the comment seeming to pacify the man.

"Honey, can you show this kid where to set up? She's going to be playing for us tonight." Tai called out as a serving girl made her way through the crowd carrying a tray of dirty dishes. She was also middle aged and a little plump, but had a friendly face as she looked Naru over.

"Come on and let's get you settled." The woman said as she sat her tray down on the bar to lead the younger girl away.

The night started off slow as Naru was nervous, but as Lina sent support the young girl grew more confident. The applause of the customers and the money they were tossing in her fiddle case by her feet quickly boosted her confidence even more. Though she had a hard time with some of the requests that some people made, she knew a few and she didn't receive any complaints. In fact at the end of the night she was met with the woman who was smiling brightly and gave her a tray with a mug of cider, a huge bowl of stew with large chunks of meat, potatoes, carrots, peas and a few other things she couldn't identify. She even had bread and a salad which she was iffy about, but after tasting it with the salad dressing on it she thought she would die of bliss.

"After you eat I'll show you to your room." The woman said confusing Naru.

"We haven't worked out a price yet though." Naru said.

"We have three empty rooms and the Inn is closing for the night dear, so Tai decided to just give you a room. he won't say it, but he was surprised by how good you were and he really loved your music." The woman said softly, "And if my husband didn't give you a room, I would have. You are going to be a great bard."

"Your husband?" Naru asked in shock.

"Yeah, we own and run this Inn. We only have three other people on staff, but they are close friends." The woman said, "I have to go finish cleaning, but I'll be back after you finish. And if you want seconds, there is plenty left."

"Yes please!" Naru nearly cried as she quickly devoured the rest of the stew and held out her bowl.

"Okay sweetie, I'll grab you some more." The woman chuckled as she took the bowl and headed back towards what Naru guessed was the kitchen.

'Why didn't I do this a long time ago?' Naru asked as she patted her money purse that was full of copper pieces and a couple ryo coins. For once in her life everything was looking good and she was happy and content.


	5. Act I Part V Father

**Siren's Song**

**Act I Part V**

**Father**

I don't own Naruto, if I did I would have lots more money.

Thank you everyone for all of your great reviews and comments on my story.

* * *

Naruto Age 13

'I really wish we had more money.' Naru whined mentally as she made her way down the dirt road. On one hand she was ecstatic to see the buildings not far off meaning she would make it to the town by noon. On the other, she almost wished that some bandits would attack her so she could relieve them of their money for being stupid enough to do so. Over the last two weeks she had to travel at a civilians pace from outpost to small village on the way here, and every time she came across a group of bandits they thought she was easy pickings being a girl carrying around a fiddle case. How wrong they were when she summoned fifty to a hundred shadow clones to over power them.

'Maybe if you didn't spend your last silver buying that ice cream. It was way overpriced you know.' Lina chided, though mirth could be detected in her voice.

'But it was soooooo good.' Naru sighed. It was the best thing she ever had, no offense to ramen. She had never had ice cream before as she was lucky to even get edible food. When she was offered a sample at the last village she was at it was impossible to resist buying some. And then buying seconds and thirds blowing most of what she had left of the delectable treat.

'I know sweetie, you have had a rough life. You need to remember though that until we get settled and find a job, you need to be careful how you spend your money.' Lina explained, for the third time. Of course Naru understood that, the girl was just enjoying her freedom and things she never got to experience throughout her childhood so far. Despite her still technically being a child, she had to grow up so early and Lina felt so bad for her and wished there was something she could do to fix it.

'I know, but at least when we get to town we can maybe make some money on the square before heading to find an inn. Maybe I can find one to play at permanently in exchange for room and board.' Naru said in hopes of finally settling down. It was kind of fun doing all of the traveling, but she wanted a place to stay at and belong.

'That could be good, and a few more weeks and you can actually stop wearing the wig.' Lina said. Naru's hair was growing at a pretty decent rate and already lost most of the natural spikiness it seemed to have when that short. 'Just be careful not to act like your old self when in public and keep up your changes. Don't need hunter nin recognizing you.'

It was about an hour later when Naru finally made it to Tanzuka Town, a little tired yet excited to see the huge city sprawling out around her. Of course Konoha was large, but this Town was more of a large city. She had heard mentions of Tanzuka being so big that you could find anything here, that it could give you your heart's desire...for a price.

Searching for a place that looked good near the center of the town, she came along the market district that had stalls of all kinds set up as well as many stores lining the streets. Finding a fountain Naru settled herself on the edge of it with her fiddle case on the ground where passerby's could drop money into if they liked her music. Taking her fiddle she confidently held it in place and began playing, happy that once again she seemed to captivate the people as they passed by. Already she could see her case filling up with copper pieces as well as a few silver. This was going to be the largest take yet!

For several hours she played, taking requests from some people and happy that she had her shadow clones learn even more songs the past couple weeks as she wasn't lost at all so far. She knew the material now, a lot of different songs as she had traded song books at the villages as she went through them as Lina even taught her some old ones that people never heard of yet loved.

As it grew late in the day and her stomach started rumbling from hunger, she started to take the money in her case and transfer it to her money purse and put the fiddle away before the purse was snatched away. Angrily she looked up to find three men in what looked like a uniform of some kind, one of them holding her money purse.

"We haven't seen you around her before, miss." The one that seemed to be the leader of the three said, a cold look on his face. "I hope you have papers and a permit for playing out here."

"Papers? Permit?" Naru asked dumbly.

"It is against the law to operate any business or panhandle without a permit miss. If you don't have either I'm afraid we will have to place you under arrest and confiscate what you earned unlawfully inside our city." The man said again as the other two began surrounding her.

"There you are!" An older man called out as he hurried up them and got between the leader and her. "Please forgive my niece, she didn't know."

"She's your niece, Haruno?" The man asked skeptically.

"Yes, she was supposed to come straight to my shop when she got here. My sister lived in one of the outposts and you know how they don't collect taxes for panhandling." The new man said.

"Fine, old man." The leader said as he poured out a large sum of money counting it out. "Here is what is left after the fine and her fifteen percent. Make sure you take her and get her papers settled before I see her out here again or I will be taking her in."

Naru caught the money pouch as the man tossed it to her to find it almost as light as it was when she got here. Opening it up she counted maybe fifteen copper pieces which made her groan. All of today was a huge waste as they took her money and if they were the police here then there was nothing that she could do without getting in even more trouble.

"Have a good day Haruno, Miss." The man said as he led the other two away.

"Thank you for helping me." Naru sighed.

"It's fine, they are good men and do their best to protect the city. They just follow the law a little too closely sometimes and I don't think you deserve to be punished for something you obviously didn't know about." The man explained, "My name is Ryu Haruno by the way."

"I'm Naru." Naru said, "No last name."

"Well, it's nice to meet you." The man finally said after staring at her a few moments. "So your new in town? Are you planning to stay long?"

"Yeah, I'm hoping to find an inn I can perform at. I'm a bard." Naru said showing her fiddle case that now held her instrument.

"A bard needs to know more than one instrument to be successful, especially in a big city like this. Tell me, what other instruments do you know?" Ryu asked as Naru grew both angry and disappointed at the comment because if it was true then there went her plans.

"It's all I know." Naru sighed as she looked down, noticing the cane in the man's hand and several bags full of food and produce sticking out of the top sitting not far from him.

"Well, I think we can help each other out then." Ryu said with a small smile. "I own a used music and book store and I'm looking for help. If you work for me during the day, I'll not only pay you but give you room and board as well. During the evening after we close up shop, I'll teach you which ever instrument you chose and allow you to burrow most anyone in my shop to practice on until you buy your own. I'll tell you right now though, you really need at least two or three instruments to be considered a true bard."

'What should I do?' Naru asked, unsure if she should even trust this. It was almost too good to be true.

'Ask him what I tell you.' Lina said.

"How can I work for you, don't I need papers and a permit?" Naru asked as she repeated Lina's words as she looked up to see the man's intent gaze studying her.

"Of course you do, as my niece it will be easy to pick up papers saying who you are and that I am responsible for you. I'll also pay for you a permit to panhandle if you plan to in your spare time." Ryu said, his eyes full of mirth.

"How can I trust you? You seem to have a bit more chakra control than a normal civilian?" Naru asked, shocked that Lina noticed that through their connection while Naru didn't.

'Don't worry, you don't yet have real training to sense stuff like that. That's what I'm here for kit.' Lina said easing Naru's mind. 'I can also tell you that I'm not sensing any increased heart rate or any other signs of deception so I think we can trust this man...for now.'

"That's because I'm a retired shinobi from Konoha...much like you I believe." The man said with a small smile, "I knew your parents...oh don't look at me like that, I can sense the kyuubi's chakra pulsing in you. Any good sensory type could. I'll have to train you to hide that as well if you are running from their kiddo."

Naru was floored, this man knew not only her parents, but he knew who she was just by sensing her chakra? Was he just bluffing or was he serious? If it was true then he could turn her in. 'Trust him for now, if he is telling the truth then it may be best to go with him. I don't know how to train you to control chakra to hide from another sensory type.'

'But what if he betrays us?' Naru asked nervously.

'Then we kill him.' Lina said with a note of finality.

"I tried to adopt you, you know. I loved your parents and tried my best to help you, but the council blocked my every attempt. Then they drove me from Konoha, led by my wife." Ryo said sadly as he reached out and caressed Naru's cheek. "Please give me the chance to help you now that I have a chance."

"Okay, I'll give you a chance, but if you betray me I will make you pay." Naru said staring the man in the eyes while fighting off the growing uneasy feeling. A part of her kept seeing this man attack her, hurt her like those men did in Konoha if given the chance. Another part kept seeing someone who wanted to be a father figure, something she always wanted and it gave her the strength to fight off the fear for the moment.

"Okay, help me home with my groceries dear and then we will head down to city hall and file guardianship papers and get you setup with permits to work and panhandle." Ryu said as he picked up a bag and let Naru grab the other with her free hand.

* * *

Hiruzen looked over the reports of the latest returning group of hunter nin with a heavy heart. The reports was the same as the last ones, despite all the leads that they heard there was no trace of the girl that he thought of as a granddaughter. If only he stood up to the council all those years ago before the little blonde ball of sunshine was hurt so badly. He was a fool though and he deserved to pay for it, he deserved the pain far more than what the child did.

Of course with the bad news, there was some measure of good news as well. First, Kakashi's new therapist has helped him out a great deal in just the small time that the Hokage assigned her to the man. All of the old reports signing him off as stable was once again frauds by the council elders, but now the man was getting the help he needed to move on from all of the pain and grief he was suffering. If only the old man had seen it before, but he grew to lax the last years after resuming his position and just didn't give surrounding, much less his friends the attention deserved. Thankfully he got a wake up call, but it came at a cost that should never have had to be paid.

On the last Uchiha front, the boy was surprisingly accepting of the truths behind his clan's massacre. His own therapist was doing a great job working with the boy, but the old man didn't expect any less of Yamanaka. The boy was moving away from his emo status though he was far from becoming anything like the missing blonde once was. He was becoming close to his new teammates as they now shared the main Uchiha house. In fact, if he heard correctly Sasuke even just had his first date with Sakura.

Speaking of the girl, Hiruzen was saddened by the way the girl's mother treated her. Sadly he couldn't exactly do anything as Sakura refuse to press charges, but the woman was in a lot of trouble to begin with thanks to her part of the long list of charges against her and the council elders as well as Danzo. All of whom were now sitting in the dungeon's below ANBU headquarters with both ANBU and the daimyo's own samurai. The old war hawk was now missing an arm and an eye now thanks to his betrayal against the Uchiha clan which he was worried about informing Sasuke about. He didn't have any choice now as the daimyo had made it clear that the boy would be allowed to know everything besides what the old man already promised Sasuke.

"Still no sign of her?" The Daimyo asked as he came into the office and sat in front of the Hokage with a tired look.

"A few leads, but when they are checked out there's nothing." Hiruzen sighed tossing the reports he was looking at across the desk for the Daimyo to look through.

"This is not the way I wanted to retire." The Daimyo sighed as he rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger as he looked through the paperwork that made up the latest reports on the search for the fourth Hokage's daughter.

"You are retiring?" Hiruzen asked a little shocked since he knew the daimyo since they were children and were close friends. Or had been in the past, but they had grown apart ever since the kyuubi attack as Hiruzen became complacent and...lazy.

"Yes, my son will soon be taking over, but I worry about some of his plans." The daimyo admitted.

"Care to talk about it?" Hiruzen asked, curious as to why the daimyo was so worried.

"This can not leave this room, am I understood? You may be an old friend Hiruzen, but if you betray my trust I will have you executed for treason." The daimyo said.

"I understand and I swear I will speak of this with no one." Hiruzen said as his curiosity peaked even more.

"Okay then," The daimyo sighed as he relaxed a bit. "I'm okay with some of his plans, despite them moving away from tradition. Such as he plans to mix ninja's with our samurai in our ranks and even cross train our soldiers. I don't like it, but I agree that if we don't change with the times then we will grow complacent and weak. It's some of his more radical plans such as creating a new spy network, much like the one Jiraiya has made. He plans to make it by creating a guild called free bards that will give all of it's members traveling rights much like the sanin."

"Free bards? That sounds..." Hiruzen started, trying to formulate words at the outrageous notion. Using bards, trusting them with important information and the security of the Land of Fire? It was preposterous as they weren't trustworthy in his eyes as they were nothing but beggars and thieves.

"Preposterous? I know, but my son is convinced that it is a good idea and if it works it could be very beneficial. The problem is, how can you even trust those people? Gypsies is what most of them are, dancers, singers, thieves...people with no real ties to anything. Much less our great nation." The daimyo explained. "I thought about postponing my retirement or forbid him from doing this, but it is his choice to make. He needs to make his own decisions, his own mistakes, in order to learn and grow as a true leader."

"That's true I suppose, I wish him good luck." Hiruzen said, gulping a little as the expression on his friend's face hardened.

"Thank you old friend, but there is real business I wish too discuss with you. I was putting this off, I wanted to learn what happened to the young girl first. I think it is time I learned what has happened to young Naru's godparents and where they were while she suffered from these attacks." The daimyo said making Hiruzen a little nervous.

"Tsunade, she was grieving too much and left the village and refuses to come back here. She didn't want anything to do with the village at all, much less her godchild. As for Jiraiya, he didn't want to take a child along with him since it was dangerous to both him and her while maintaining his spy network." Hiruzen said, not wanting to lie. He didn't tell his old friend everything as both of the remaining loyal sanin refused to care for the girl blaming her in their own ways for Minato and Kushina's deaths.

"You mean Tsunade blamed Naru for Kushina's death while Jiraiya blamed Naru for Minato's." The daimyo snorted in disgust. "I'm not stupid old friend. They betrayed some of my friend's, supposedly their friends last wishes. They have shown disregard to their responsibilities and bad judgment in their choices. That does not make good role models nor ambassadors of our country so I have no choice but to revoke their status as sanin as well as their traveling rights. If they refuse to return to Konoha to answer for what they have done then they will be arrested."

"Please old friend, reconsider this. Jiraiya's spy network is vital to our village's survival and we both know Tsunade is too stubborn to come back." Hiruzen said fearing for his last two student's lives and reputations.

"Then I guess Tsunade will be arrested and as for Jiraiya, he can write his books here as well as run his network from here. He can send someone else out to gather the information, but both are to be confined to this village until either I or my son deem them worthy of regaining their status of sanin." The daimyo said with finality.

"I guess I'll send someone out to fetch them." Hiruzen sighed in resignation.

"It won't be necessary as I already sent some samurai out to retrieve them." The daimyo said.

* * *

"Do you want me to file these as me being your caretaker, or would you like me to adopt you?" Ryu asked with a small smile as Naru looked shocked yet hopeful.

"I wouldn't mind if you adopted me." Naru said a little shyly.

"I'm glad, and I promise to take care of you and help you in every way I can." Ryu said as he leaned over the papers. "Tell me, is there a name you would like to use? You shouldn't keep using Naru if you are trying to hide from your past. You should pick a name to represent your new life."

"I really don't know." Naru sighed as her mind raced trying to come up with something.

"How about Rune? Rune Haruno? I'll put you down as my daughter from a woman I met in one of the trading outposts that don't really worry too much about paperwork. It will be easily believable and hard to disprove. Also, I know the records keeper here and she will help push it through quickly." Ryu explained as he started writing something down on the paper on the table in front of him while Naru sat next to him.

"Rune...I like that." Naru, or rather Rune said with a soft smile. She was going to have a father, a family.

"Good, just a few more minutes and we will turn these in." Ryu explained.

"Hey there handsome, what are you doing here?" A woman asked as she, well the only way Rune could describe it as sashay. She walked with such an air of confidence, yet the way she walked was meant to be as seductive as possible while seeming as if she was hunting prey. The look on her face when looking at the old man was one of kindness and openness as she leaned over the opposite side of the table. Rune could easily see the woman was purposely giving Ryu an ample view down her filmy, lacey top at the woman's very ample cleavage.

The woman was wearing a tight, filmy low cut dress with lace with rose like patterns and layered skirts with her high heeled shoes peeking out. Her hair was a long, vivid pink that framed a heart shaped face. Her eyes were the most exotic Rune had ever seen with a deep, rich red that looked demonic yet exotically beautiful at the same time. Her body wasn't hid at all by her dress showing off an hourglass type body that looked like she could be a goddess come to earth.

'Should I be jealous?' Lina teased.

'What? No! I'm not like that, it's just she's so...wow. Yet she seems so friendly...not like the women back in the village that looked even a little pretty.' Rune said, though she couldn't hide a small part of her that truly admired this woman's body...and wish that she looked like that. That thought was easy to push out of her head before it went too far because if she did look like that then she would get too much attention. The kind she didn't want.

"Hey there Rose, I'm helping my daughter fill out her papers for citizenship here." Ryu said giving the woman a strange look.

"And such a cutie, but if you want I can take you out for some shopping and a makeover." Rose said while looking Rune up and down.

"If she wants to, feel free to later Rose. She needs to settle in first, but stop off at the shop later and I'll introduce you both properly." Ryu said with a smile.

"I look forward to it, Ryu. Nice meeting you cutie." Rose said as she leaned forward and kissed Ryu on the cheek as well as giving Rune a peck as she sauntered off. Rune couldn't help the old man's gaze on the woman as she swayed her hips as she walked.

"Who was that?" Rune asked as she watched the woman walk out of sight.

"Ah, that was my oldest friend here in Tanzuka. She owns the Fire Lotus not too far from the shop. You will see her a lot as she stops by often and don't worry, she's very trustworthy." Ryu explained as he gathered up the paperwork and rose from his seat, leaning on his cane.

"You like her, don't you?" Rune asked, smiling a little.

"Of course, she is my friend and well, she is a very beautiful woman. Any red blooded man would have a hard time not noticing her. We have a very complicated relationship though." Ryu said with a hint of sadness. "maybe in another lifetime. Come on kiddo, time to make this official."

Rune followed the old man, deep in thought about how he sounded. At first she thought about playing matchmaker, but she didn't know too much about that and she wasn't all that comfortable thinking about it.

'Don't bother with it, kit. They are close, that's clear, but there is also some kind of history there. Tread carefully or you can cause more damage that what is already there. It was a sweet thought though.' Lina said, surprised that Rune wanted to help after al she went though. Then again, despite it all the ancient demoness could still see an innocence in Rune that was slowly coming back a little. Sadly she also knew that the child would never regain the innocence that was stolen from her or the completely carefree attitude she once had. It was something that made her want to willingly attack and level Konoha.


	6. Act I Part VI Rose

**Siren's Song**

**Act I Part VI**

**Rose**

I don't own Naruto, if I did I would have changed a lot of it.

Thank you everyone so much for all of your great reviews and comments on my story.

I love the ability to make covers for stories, I just need to get one made now. I've also had someone point out to me that a lot of people are worried about their stories being deleted because of having sex or other questionable material in it. While I highly believe it is okay to have some sexual content in a story, there are those out their who write stories solely for the purpose of having one or two chapters of nothing but sex in stranger and stranger ways. The thing is, most of the stories like that can be considered child pornography as they are often times kids in those stories. I can see where the site is coming from wanting to keep that stuff off here to keep from being shut down if the government decides to crack down on that material like they did with megaupload.

On the other hand, there are a lot of good stories with tastefully done scenes of sexual content that is being punished because of the stories that are made purely to do something just for the sex. I personally don't think that those stories should suffer because people insist on posting pure smut on here rather than where it belongs on adult oriented fanfiction sites, though I don't really believe that child pornography itself belongs anywhere.

This chapter was originally going to have the intro into what Rune's second job while here is going to be and her introduction to the people she would be working with and getting to know. After reading a review though I decided to write what happens to Jiraiya and Tsunade instead of just mentioning briefly later what their punishments are going to be so thanks Dark Vizard447.

Also, since there was an anonymous review, I just wanted to thank TigerInTheMoonlight and let you know that there will be a few small time skips here and there, and maybe a bit of a larger one later on.

I did try to respond to reviews sooner, but when I tried to actually sign in it kept trying to load the page without actually doing anything, much less letting me sign in. I will be responding to all of your reviews soon, hopefully as soon as I get done with this author note when I try to sign in again and hopefully upload this chapter.

* * *

Naruto Age 13

Shizune stood behind her mentor and friend as she hugged her pet pig to her bosom watching the older woman gamble away even more money they didn't even have. She loved the woman, she would have been an aunt by marriage, but she was getting so tired. All they did was gamble away everything they had in one town before running to the next while dodging debt collectors. Not only was Tsunade's fortune mostly gone now, what little money Shizune's family had was almost gone as well.

"Lady Tsunade, please let's stop while we're ahead for once." Shizune begged, not wanting to go through anything like the last time. She was a kunochi, a damn good one at that besides an excellent medic nin, so she was used to having to use her body to seduce her targets to finish a mission. After all, sex was one of a kunochi's most dangerous weapons. To have to chose between Tsunade and herself being arrested and laying down with a slob of a debt collector while the older woman was conveniently passed out, Shizune didn't have much of a choice. Sadly it wasn't the first time either, and every time Shizune tried to talk to the older woman about it Tsunade changed the subject.

"I'm going to win this time Shizune, just watch." Tsunade grinned as she downed a bottle of sake, forgoing the saucer.

"Please, Lady Tsunade, just this once can't we please quit before it's too late?" Shizune begged, but it was too late as the dealer called it and Tsunade had a losing hand as well as losing the stack of chips.

"Damn it, you cheated!" Tsunade screamed as she slammed her hands down on the table causing it to break and throw chips everywhere. It was what happened every time, Tsunade would cause a commotion and grab Shizune dragging her from the casino. This time it didn't work as six men and woman surrounded them, all wearing the fire daimyo's colors. They were half of the daimyo's twelve guardians meaning that if they were after them, they were royally screwed.

"Tsunade Senju, you are hereby revoked of your sanin status and traveling rights. You are to return with us to Konoha to face our daimyo for the wrongs that you have committed Not only to debtors that you have gained and your protégé, but also to a child a one of our country's heroes." A woman said, her voice sounding venomous as she glared at the older woman that was Tsunade.

"And what if I refuse?" Tsunade asked cracking are knuckles.

"Are you?" The samurai asked, a gleeful edge in her voice.

"Yes, I think I am." Tsunade said as she swayed a little. Most people didn't even notice it, but leader of the group did.

"My name is Amelia La'Cruz, leader of my lord's twelve guardians and I am officially giving you one last chance to come peacefully or this will get rough." Amelia said as she stiffened her body, getting ready to act as she licked her lips. "And I like it _rough_."

"Little smartass." Tsunade growled as she lashed out with a punch aimed to take the young warrior's head off. Instead the girl simply redirected the strike while burying her own armored fist in the older woman causing Tsunade to drop to her feet choking.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that while you are surrounded by us our armor prevents you from using any jutsu or chakra. That includes fueling your strength with your chakra." Amelia smirked. She nodded to two men who quickly stepped forward and yanked the older woman's arms roughly behind her back and secured them in chakra cuffs. Amelia smirked as she leaned over and placed a paper tag on the blondes forehead. "And don't even try removing this as that can only be done by the one who put it on. With just a simple hand seal I can cause you unimaginable pain so don't try anything."

"Please stop this, Lady Tsunade didn't do anything!" Shizune pleaded from behind Tsunade, tears running down her cheeks.

"She attacked an official from our lord's court, and that right there can get her in a lot of trouble girl. I won't press charges for that though since I want to see her suffer. She abandoned a small child to a life of hell." Amelia sneered.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tsunade demanded, her voice hoarse as she titled her head up to glare at Amelia.

"I know your dirty little secret grandmother." Amelia sneered, a harsh whisper in the blonde's ear as she leaned forward before leaning back. "The Uzumaki child was your responsibility and you abandoned her, therefore you are setting a bad example as a representative of fire. That alone is enough to have your status as sanin revoked and confined to your village."

"Wh-what did you mean?" Tsunade asked, eyes wide as she looked up in shock at the fire guardian.

"Take her, I'm sick of looking at her." Amelia demanded.

"What did you mean!" Tsunade screamed angrily as several men dragged Tsunade out of the building.

"Please let me come with you." Shizune begged as she hurried to Amelia's side, a worried look on her face.

"You may come if that is your wish, but try anything and you will be in chains right along with your mentor." Amelia said, her voice harsh as she turned to storm off. A few moments later Shizune and her pet pig was following close behind.

* * *

"Son, what the hell are you doing inviting that filth into our home?" Miku demanded as she stormed into the throne room ignoring the guards that sent her a curious glance as they stood on either side of the young man sitting upon the throne of their nation. She was tall and beautiful, giving off a commanding aura while at the same time giving off a caring vibe from around her. Unlike the woman who pretended to be her while using a trained cat to torture...or train the new Genin, this woman was obviously a loving mother while being a woman not to easily cross. Not even by her own son.

""Relax mother, I do believe our guest of honor is here. Besides, father knows about this and okayed it." Akira said while giving his mother a cheesy grin while she narrowed her eyes at him. He didn't back down though, he didn't even flinch when his mother's glare intensified. She knew he was a strong willed boy, very handsome to, which was why Miku was so upset. She never pegged her son as a pervert as she had personally banned any of those filthy books from being anywhere around her son. And now he was here inviting the disgusting pervert into her home to sign a limited edition of his book. It was disgusting!

"Ah, Lord Akira, I heard you were looking for me to sign a very special book as a present for your mother." Jiraiya laughed as he pushed past another guard that just entered to try and announce the arrival of the sanin.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." Akira said as he turned his attention to the white haired man standing about ten feet from the throne. He pulled out the book from between his leg and the throne's arm and handed it to the guard to his right. The guard nodded his head and hurried down in front of the sanin who took the book with a look of shock on his face.

"I never thought I would ever see another copy of this, it was my first book I ever wrote." Jiraiya said fondly as he brushed his fingers across the unmarred cover of the pristine condition book. Taking the pen the guard offered him, Jiraiya quickly signed the cover before giving it back the guard who in turn returned it to the fire daimyo's son.

"Here you go mother, the first part of your birthday gift." Akira said with a soft smile as he looked up at his mother who looked a little shocked. She gently reached over and took the book looking at the cover. True, she did love the book very much, but when the white haired bastard started writing his porn it took away from innocence of the book in her hands. "Please do stick around mother, as I have more."

"What do you mean?" Miku asked softly.

"Oh, I think you will like it mother." Akira said with a grin before turning back to the sanin. "Tell me Jiraiya, you write those Icha Icha books to deliver coded messages to Konoha to report your finding from your spy network, correct?"

"Yes my lord, it is the easiest and safest way to deliver them to the Hokage." Jiraiya explained, slightly confused by this question.

"That is complete and utter bullshit! You hold the toad summons so hold the ability to send a summons with a message back to Konoha in less that a few minutes. You write those stories because you get a kick out of that smut and make a lot of money from it! Well, NO MORE!"

"My lord, I admit that it could be just as easy to use my summons to do it, but there are people who depend on those books as well. They help so many ninja relieve stress." Jiraiya tried to explain.

"SILENCE! Jiraiya, that isn't the only thing that I have asked you here for today. Several grave matters have come to my father's attention, and in effect to mine as well lately. We are conducting a full investigation into it and until the time that it is over you are hereby stripped of your sanin status and are banned from writing any more of that smut! You are to be confined to Konoha until everything is settled, is that clear?" Akira said as he shot to his feet to glare down at the older man who was shaking in anger.

"You can't do that!" Jiraiya shouted as he clenched his fist. Before he could blink he was surrounded by no less than a dozed katanas all pointed at very tender parts of his body. He was surrounded by samurai and he couldn't do anything about it, even if he wanted to. The throne room was infused with seals that prevented the usage of chakra within, the same seals that Minato had helped developed for the twelve fire guardians before his died.

"I can, and I have! All of your accounts and assets have also been frozen until this investigation is complete. A portion of your wealth will be stripped from you and awarded to one Naru Uzumaki once she is found for the child support you owed her." Akira growled out. He was shaking in anger, though some of it was directed at himself as well. If he only knew the pain the little girl was going through, he would have personally walked through hell to save her despite him being young himself.

"How the hell will I support myself then?" Jiraiya demanded.

"By doing the same D ranks that all Genin do, after all that is what you are now!" Akira sneered at the old man. "Guards, escort this trash back to Konoha and make sure both of the so called sanin are fitted with slave collars. If they even attempt to leave Konoha without permission I want them to suffer."

"Yes sir!" The guards surrounding Jiraiya cried out as several saluted and the rest dragged a struggling and screaming man from the chambers.

"Happy birthday, mother." Akira grinned at his mother who just hugged him tightly.

"Best present ever, my son." Miku whispered in his ear.

* * *

Several days later both Tsunade and Jiraiya stood in the Hokage office looking more tired than they had been in their entire lives as they had everything stripped away from them. Though they both were suffering, it was Tsunade that was suffering the most as even Shizune had left her side in a fit of anger when confronted with how Tsunade evaded all of the debt collectors. In an effort to stand up to what she saw as an injustice she acted strong before the fire daimyo himself while the things Shizune forced herself to do was dragged out of her in front of everyone.

Despite being a konuochi and knowing that they would have to use their bodies at times for missions was one thing, having to do so to keep both Tsunade and Shizune out of trouble was an entirely different matter. It was something that humiliated her, something that she was ashamed of and hated herself for. In the end she had convinced herself that it was the right thing until Tsunade got over her pain and grief and realized what she was doing. Seeing Tsunade act so nonchalant about it though shattered the younger girls heart and made Shizune smack Tsunade before storming off.

Of course Tsunade wasn't unaffected by all of it as she was only trying to stand her ground before their lord, but Shizune wouldn't let her explain. In the few days since the incident Shizune refused to even talk to her, much less listen to her. She had no one left except for her sensei and old teammate, but neither one was much help as they were dealing with their own troubles from this fallout.

Jiraiya was the laughing stock of the village, especially the women who hated his novels with a passion. While of course there were his die hard fans who cried foul over his treatment, he knew he was royally screwed. No matter how he tried to defend himself, he knew he was wrong. He could have taken the child with him and trained her to be a good konuochi while traveling from one contact to another. He didn't though because the little girl looked too much like Minato, the man who he thought of as a son.

"I have come to a decision about what to do with the two of you. I want to so very much have you killed, but what you did doesn't deserve that in the eyes of the law. While I may seem a cruel man, I do follow my own laws that I have set up which sadly won't allow it." Katashi, the fire daimyo said as he leaned over the desk in the Hokage's office. "First off, we will talk about your grandchild, Naru Uzumaki."

"Godchild." Jiraiya croaked out in a defeated voice.

"Don't think me a fool, Jiraiya, I know very well Minato was your son!" Katashi snarled as he slammed his hands into the surface of the desk creating a loud boom. He was confused to see the look of utter confusion on the mans face.

"He didn't know. Only people that knew was sensei and Orochimaru." Tsunade said, her voice quiet and weighed down with guilt. "We got drunk that one night and when I found out I was pregnant from it I freaked out. I had sensei send us on a fake mission while I carried Minato to term. When I brought him back, I put him into an orphanage so you wouldn't find out. I was too ashamed to tell you."

"You bitch!" Jiraiya sobbed as he realized just how much he did lose.

"Quiet!" Katashi demanded once again slamming his palms across the desk's surface. "While that may be, either way you both promised Minato and Kushina to be responsible godparents and signed the paperwork. Paperwork I signed off on personally as Minato asked me to officiate it. You both were responsible for Naru and you abandoned her here knowing full well what would happen. You didn't even send back child support for her to help her!"

"I'm sorry." Tsunade sobbed, once in her life completely sober and had been for the last few days. With the haze gone from her mind all of the pain she normally drunk away was flooding back into her making it difficult to even bother going on.

"Oh, you will be before this is over!" Katashi snarled. "I have come to a decision on what to do about both of you. For the charges of child abandonment, I strip you both of fifteen percent of your wealth to be placed into an account that only Naru Uzumaki can access once she is found. Jiraiya can cover his easy enough, but you Tsunade have completely squandered much of not only your fortune, but what money that poor girl you dragged along with you had as well. You will pay half of what you make into an account that will be split not only between Naru, but that young woman as well until both are paid what they should be.

"Now, onto your punishments for making a mockery out of not only the shinobi system, but the this nation as well. Until further notice, you are both stripped of your rank and will either become a Genin or a civilian. Either way, neither of you are to leave this village until I or my son is satisfied that you are capable of handling such a privilege. You are also both banned from drinking and making any more of a fool of yourselves until your probation of one year is over with which is when your cases will be reviewed by one of us. Any questions?" After waiting a few moments which was filled with silence, Katashi shook his head and said, "Dismissed."

* * *

An hour later and something to soothe the headache he already had, Katashi made his way into the council chambers that were mostly full. He was flanked on either side by his fire guardians as the people, both civilian and shinobi looked down at him curiously while whispers shot back and forth speculating on why the elders haven't been present recently. It was about time that they found out.

"People of the leaf, some very disturbing things have come to my attention lately about this once great village of Konoha. Sadly, it has likely caused a stain upon our great nations honor, but thankfully it isn't too late to fix any of it." Katashi began as everyone grew quiet and gave him their undivided attention, even Hiruzen who just sat down in his own seat which was both for his position as Hokage as well as his small clan. "It breaks my heart to learn much of what I had as it is a huge betrayal of what our nation is. A betrayal to the will of fire that our fathers before us and their fathers before them forged this great nation with."

A loud chorus of murmurs swept through the room, mostly through the civilian council as speculation over what the fire daimyo said ran rampant.

"Quiet fools, your lord the fire daimyo has the floor!" A samurai bellowed cutting off the growing loudness of the council members. Katashi nodded in thanks toward the samurai who returned a bright smile. After all, Amelia was his favorite samurai as she had been raised by him after the woman that was her mother abandoned the poor girl.

"Thank you, Amelia." Katashi said with a nod to Amelia, "This village has tarnished the reputation of our great nation by its actions towards a helpless child."

"The demon brat?" Scoffed an overly large man on the front row of the civilian council. The man didn't even have a chance to react before a bright flash of yellow flashed next to him before he lost his head due to a katana separating it before another flash left Amelia standing next to Katashi.

"Arrest her!" Several civilian council members ordered, but they too soon lost their heads in the same method before the significantly paler survivors shut up and sat down.

"Good, once again thank you Amelia." Katashi said flashing the girl a gentle, sad smile. "Your first mistake was breaking the Sandimine's Law stating that anyone who mentioned the demon was to be immediately executed. Your second mistake was thinking you can commit treason with no consequences by ordering the arrest of MY guardian which was only doing her duty that I assigned. Do so again and I can guarantee the same results. Those offenders will be stripped of all their assets unless they had families and if they did they will be levied with a generous fine.

"Now if we can get back on topic of this villages stupidity and it's blemish on our great nations honor. You all abused a child, treated her, yes her, worse than trash. She was a comrade of this village, a member of it, and you effectively abandoned her which by your own tenants makes you the trash." Katashi said as he paced back and forth with his hands clenched behind his back. "Her father was the greatest seal master this nation has ever known, but apparently you never had faith in him as he chose his own child to keep the beast at bay making his last wish to treat his legacy as the hero she was. You are all a bunch of ungrateful hypocrites and frankly I don't blame the child from leaving this dump."

"My Lord, not all of us hated little Naru or treated her bad. In fact, several of our clans had tried to adopt her, but was stopped by the council elders." A large man with swirls on his cheeks called out. "In fact, my wife often sent extra food with our son to give her and encouraged him to befriend her."

"And that is why I still have some faith in this village as I know there are still those of you who burn brightly with the will of fire. There will be changes though from now on and if any of you have any problems with them then I'm sure Amelia would be more than willing to take your complaints. Just don't expect to walk away as this is a dictatorship and not a democracy. What I say goes and in turn what your Hokage says goes as long as it doesn't interfere with my orders. From now on this council is dissolved, any attempt to go around the Hokage's orders from now on will be an act of treason punishable by death. There will be an advisory council that will act in an advisory capacity only that will be handpicked by me. There will also be a shinobi council that again will only act in an advisory capacity as well. And before you bunch of idiots even think about trying to vote Sarutobi out of office when I leave, don't forget that I said this IS a dictatorship! When it is time to appoint a new Hokage I will personally do so. This is MY nation and MY village. You live to serve ME and don't you dare forget it!"

"Nicely said sir." Amelia said softly as he passed her heading out of the council chambers to let the fools talk about what just happened and to give his samurai time to clean up and get the identities of the idiots who lost their heads so their assets could be dealt with.

"Thank you dear, let's head back to the office so we can prepare for tomorrow and what happens to those fools who call themselves elders." Katashi said, rubbing his head even more. His headache was growing more and more and he was kind of looking forward to his son taking over for him.

* * *

Despite the full closet of clothes and shoes that Rose kept piling on to her the last two weeks since moving into the small apartment above the music store that Ryu owned, Rune still preferred the more simplistic clothing didn't show off her body...too much. The woman had taken to her like a mother besides talking to her over what happened back in the village. It took a few days of the woman sitting in her room here in the evenings before Rune realized just what was happening, that Rose was actually acting as a shrink during those times. It didn't matter though as Rune could tell that the exotic beauty truly cared about her and acted motherly when not acting as a shrink.

At the same time, Ryu had been tough on her as a worker and a student as he acted tough yet fairly with her. However, when they weren't working he acted like a father figure and though his touch and closeness to her made her scared at first, she could deal with him being close, even hugging her now thanks to all of the work Rose and Lina did getting through to her. She felt like she would never truly get over what happened to her, but she was moving forward which was something all three said they were proud of.

They were both shocked to learn about the mirror clones though they both grinned at each other after being told of the clones side effects. They both made good use of the clones as Ryu would have several reading material on different instruments during the day and working out on taijutsu and ninjutsu at nights. Of course, he could only give pointers on the taijutsu as he had a ton of scrolls though he couldn't perform them being unable to move in the ways they described any longer. On the other hand he was able to perform the jutsus in his basement training ground that was lined with seals that absorbed the attacks to keep the damage down while allowing for undisturbed practice.

"Good morning dear." Rose said as she pushed her way into the room once again dressed in filmy robes that clung to her curves with cuts that showed off more flesh that Rune wondered was decent out in public. "I wanted to see if you wanted to join me for breakfast and spend the day together since its your day off. We can even get makeovers and go clothes shopping."

"I'd love to Rose, but I think I have enough clothing." Rune said as she began stripping her night clothes off while Rose went to the closet and began looking through the dresses hanging up.

"Nonsense, a beautiful girl like you can never have enough clothing." Rose clucked as she pulled out a red dress cut low enough to show some cleavage, even if Rune didn't have a lot as of yet. "How about this?"

"I was thinking more something like this." Rune said reaching around Rose to pull out a white blouse and black ankle length skirt that had straps that went over the shoulder and a black bodice.

"It's very pretty dear, but you shouldn't be ashamed of your beauty." Rose said kissing Rune on the cheek after replacing the red dress. She knew not to push the younger girl as she was still getting over what happened and knew that it may be awhile, if ever, that the girl would be comfortable wearing something like that.

"I'm not ashamed, Rose, I just...I just don't like showing off my body." Rune sighed as she began getting dressed, letting Rose help her.

Not even a half hour later the two was sitting at one of the small cafes that served some of the best food that she ever had that wasn't ramen. Eating one of several sausage, egg and cheese croissants and a mug of hot chocolate with little marshmallows and whipped cream while Rose nibbled on a scone and nursed a mug or tea. It would cost a lot of money, but Rose insisted knowing that all of the food would be converted into much needed energy for the younger girl being what she was.

"Mistress!" A girl wearing thin green robes similar to Rose's own clothing called as she hurried up to the two. She had long, bright red hair, green eyes and light skin spotted with a few freckles that added to her beauty. Rune couldn't help noticing how the girl's bosom rose and fall as she fought to catch her breath. Did everyone Rose knew had such large chests?

"Would you care to join us, Cherry?" Rose asked motioning to a chair. The girl smiled in thanks as she sat down beside the two.

"We have a problem Mistress, Wren quit. He just walked out said he was sick of dealing with the crap from the customers." Cherry said, finally catching her breath.

"It's ok dear, I'll see if Ryu can suggest any bards to fill in until we find a permanent one." Rose said. "Rune, this is Cherry and Cherry, this is the girl I told you about, Rune."

"Nice to meet you." Rune said flashing a shy smile.

"Great to meet you also, Rose is always gushing about you and I can see why. Your very pretty." Cherry said blushing a little while Rose shot the redhead a knowing look.

"You need a bard? I can fill in, I've learned enough of the harp to play decently and I've gotten really good on the fiddle." Rune suggested.

"I don't know sweetie, I don't think you will like working for me." Rose said softly.

"But she could work after she gets done at the shop, Mistress. We don't open until Ryu closes up for the night." Cherry suggested, hope shining in her eyes.

"Rune, dear, where I work is a place that may make you very uncomfortable." Rose said softly. "I...we provide a service to the men and few women in the city that need to relieve some stress or need to seek some companionship. I know you probably heard some bad things about what we do, but there isn't anything wrong with it. It is something we enjoy doing and something others enjoy."

"Nothing you do is going to make me think any different of you. Your like my mom or aunt or something." Rune said with a reassuring smile as Rose began growing nervous.

"Sweetie, I own a brothel." Rose said softly as she took Runes hand and squeezed it softly.

"What's a brothel?" Rune asked making Cherry giggle a little.

"It's a place that men and women come when they need some loving." Cherry said, "Don't worry, our customers know the bard is off limits and if anyone tries anything they will get tossed out."

"Sex dear, we sell sex." Rose sighed when she still saw the confused look in Rune's now wide eyes.

"But...but why would you like something like that?" Rune asked shaking a little.

"Sweetie, what those bastards did to you wasn't making love or sharing a passionate night with a lover. They raped you, hurt you deeply on so many levels. Some day you will realize there is more to it that the pain they caused." Rose said squeezing Rune's hand. "You will find the right person and you will want to share everything with them including your mind, hear and...body. For now though, I think it's best you just forget about what I do."

"No, you done so much for me. If you promise that they will leave me alone I'll trust you and play for you." Rune said a little shakily making Rose sigh.

"Sweetie, I don't think this is a very good idea." Rose sighed.

"I'll be okay, I want to help you." Rune said, "You've done so much for me, I just want to do something for you."


	7. Act I Part VII Kiss

**Siren's Song**

**Act I Part VII**

**Kiss**

I don't own Naruto, if I did I would have changed a lot of it.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and commented on the story, you keep my spirits up and my inspiration alive.

This last two weeks have been a little rough as I haven't had a lot of time to write between doctor appointments that I have to take two of my family members to, therapy appointments for one of them, and everything else I have to do. It doesn't mean that I plan on not updating as I will update every weekend as usual, it just means that I can't go through everything with a fine tooth comb searching for mistakes in grammar or spelling. That also means that if I'm dead tired, a few parts here and there may seem a little...off...but I am trying my best to get decent chapters done. Therapy will be done in two more weeks though and I'm hoping it helps her a lot. Also, after therapy since it takes up a lot of time at least three days a week just by itself, I should be able to do much better on the chapters again. So please stick with me if you enjoy the story and try to overlook the few mistakes and oddities you may see. I do use a spellchecker, but I don't have the time to read through the chapter three or four times making sure everything is the right word if spellchecker missed something. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Enjoy the story.

* * *

Rune Age 13

The common room of the Fire Lotus was beautifully decorated, much more so than any inn Rune had seen during her short travels. The tables were completely smooth with red cushioned chairs surrounding them in the center of the room with booths lining the walls matching them. Covering the floor was also a plush red carpet that looked so expensive and sheer red silk curtains hanging up over each of the entrances. Right next to the fire place was a small table and a single stool, also cushioned and red. The bar was also lined with the same stools and again the surface was a smooth lacquered top with no marks from people carving stuff into them.

"Most of the girls will still be sleeping dear, but they should wake up soon and will probably be heading down for breakfast." Rose said, obviously nervous as she walked by Rune, Cheery taking up the younger girl's other side.

"This place is beautiful." Rune said in awe, "You own it?"

"Yes, someone I used to care about like a father provided the funds to buy out the old Mistress in exchange for...information and sometimes free service." Rose said, a little anger flashing in her eyes.

"Come on, I'll show you your station." Cherry said as she grabbed Rune's hand and dragged the girl over to the fire place which was where Rune believed it would be in the first place. Like most of the inns she visited, the bard was kept near the fireplace at their own little private table to keep them comfortable.

"I still can't get over how beautiful this place is." Rune said, still in awe as she glanced up at the very expensive crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. As much as it disgusted her, though she wouldn't say it out loud, she had to wonder just how much it paid to let people do...that to you.

"All you have to do is motion to one of the servers and they will keep your glass full of either water, cider or if we have it, juice. It's your choice. You also get one free meal a night, but since your friends with the Mistress, I'm sure she won't limit the food or anything else you ask for. Rose takes very good care of all those she loves and cares for, such as her girls and of course you. She sees you as a daughter you know." Cherry babbled on.

"She has been very nice to me, no one has ever treated me like she does." Rune sighed as she realized how true it was. The person who treated her the closest to how Rose treats her from Konoha was the old man, and he lied to her about so much. He bought her some things, but a part of her hated him as time went on as a part of her blamed him for letting those men hurt her like they did. Even Lina agreed as she said the old man could have kept her at his own home to protect her instead of an apartment that looked like it should have been condemned thirty some years ago.

"I know what some people think of her being the Mistress of the Fire Lotus, but she is a wonderful woman who acts like a mother to all of us. Some of us are runaways and orphans that she took in and protected." Cherry said as something flashed in her eyes, something Rune knew too well. "Please don't think she forces us into this life, it is something we chose to do as she argued with us about it. We chose to do so."

"Why would I think she forced you?" Rune asked curiously as Lina urged her to ask.

'Kit, this smells fishy.' Lina said, caution in her voice. 'Rose may be on the up and up, but I've been worried about her since she has been doing so much for you.'

'You think she's trying to get me to...do this?' Rune asked, unsure what to think as Lina originally had urged the girl to trust the woman.

'I just don't like how this sounds dear. I'm not saying to leave or mistrust her, I'm just saying to be careful.' Lina sighed as she didn't want to see Rune hurt.

"Some people just don't understand. Most of us love this life, though sometimes we end up having to do some things we don't like with a...client." Cherry said as she pulled Rune over to a booth so the two girls could sit in front of each other as Rose disappeared into another room. "There are protections here to keep the more zealous men in check, but nothing is ever fool proof once we take them to the rooms. Except for those very few times, we love what we do and if Rose ever suspects us of not wanting to continue she refuses to let us. She gives those of us who don't want to...entertain the clients other jobs such as servers, cooks and cleaners. It is honest work, no matter what some may think, and for some of us it is all we can do."

"I'm not judging you, I just...don't understand. It hurts so much, how could someone like doing it?" Rune asked with a sigh before she could stop herself.

"Rose said you were hurt before, but she wouldn't exactly say what happened. You were raped, weren't you?" Cherry asked softly as she moved over to sit next to Rune making her a little nervous.

"I was attacked by a group of men not too long ago." Rune sighed as she hung her head letting her bangs shield her eyes.

"Look at me." Cherry said as she gently laid a hand on each side of Rune's face. Gently Cherry tilted her face so Rune was forced to look into Cherry's face. "Listen to me, Rune. It wasn't your fault, so don't think it was. I know what your going through as I've been raped before to and I know how much pain it can bring."

"Then why? How can you enjoy it? It's...it's disgusting and...and it hurts!" Rune asked as her eyes watered, tears beginning to leak slowly as Cherry gently brushed them away with her thumbs still holding Rune's face gently, yet firmly in place.

"It is when it's rape, honey. When it is something that both want, it can be the most beautiful thing in the world. It can be the most intense, pleasurable thing that you ever feel."

"How can it be?" Rune asked, confusion in her voice as Cherry leaned her forehead against Rune's, their eyes locked onto the others.

"Will you let me show you something?" Cherry asked softly. "I promise I won't do anything to hurt you."

"What?" Rune asked nervously as Lina urged her to get up and leave. Before Rune could though, Cherry tilted her head and leaned in even more brushing her lips softly against Rune's. Gasping a little at the contact, Cherry deepened the kiss sliding her tongue into Rune's mouth seeking out her tongue. At first Rune began freaking out, but Cherry gently held her in place a few moments before Rune actually started to feel a small rush of...pleasure. When she started to clumsily kiss back as she melted into Cherry the girl pulled back to look at the confusion in Rune's eyes.

"How did that feel?" Cherry asked softly, smiling a little at seeing the slight flush on Rune's face.

"I...I don't know." Rune said, her breath a little shaky as she brought two fingers to her lips. She was feeling a rush of something from the contact that their lips meeting brought. A part of her was whimpering in the back of her mind, wanting to feel Cherry's lips back against hers. It was confusing as hell though as so many conflicting emotions were running rampant through her as a part of her was wanting Cherry to hold her...touch her while her mind was trying to squash those traitorous thoughts as that would only bring pain.

"Sweetie, that's only a small sample of how making true love can feel. Not what those bastards did to you as that was...that is what is disgusting as they used something that can be beautiful to hurt and violate you. Don't let them have control over you." Cherry said as she ran her fingers through Rune's hair, fingers brushing though the currently black locks of hair.

"They don't control me." Rune said with a little anger. They didn't control her, she was far away from them!

'Sweetie...kit...I hate to agree with her, but in a way they are still hurting you.' Lina sighed in Rune's head as the girl ignored the demoness's comment.

"They do sweetie, you are letting what they did to you control you. Letting them force you to be fearful of any intimacy with people who you could come to care for. I'm not saying to just forget everything, I know from experience just how hard overcoming your pain will be. I'll be here to help you if you let me though since I know what your going through somewhat. From the way you are reacting, that was your first time to which makes it even harder on you." Cherry sighed.

"I hope you aren't upsetting our guest, Cherry." Rose said as she sat a platter down on the table and sat opposite of the girls. "She's been through a lot Cherry, so please don't make any unwanted advances on her."

"I'm not Mistress, I'm just trying to help." Cherry said as she looked up at Rose to see the stern expression on the woman's face.

"I know you probably want to help, Cherry...especially after what happened to you, but your cases are completely different." Rose sighed.

"It's okay, Rose, we were just talking." Rune piped in before she could stop herself, again. The older woman gave her a look that showed her doubt, though Rose didn't voice it.

"Okay then, I brought us a little tea and cookies while we chat if you girls get hungry while we go over the details of the job and decide if it really is something you want to do. If you do decide you want the job, you will be given a room here in case you are too tired to make it home some nights. I don't expect you to take anyone there though, it's only for you to rest in and keep some of your things in like changes of clothes." Rose said seeing the worried look in Rune's eyes. Rose reached across the table to take Rune's hands and squeezed them comfortingly while giving a sad smile. "I never, ever ask anyone to do anything they are uncomfortable with sweetie. Don't ever think I would either, I love you and would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know, thank you Rose." Rune said with a watery smile. Lina wasn't sure what to think about the woman though as there were no hints of deceit there, but after learning what Rose does for a living had the demoness a little worried about Rune's emotional health. And the kiss that Cherry gave Lina's young charge was something the demoness didn't know how to take. She was out of her element as she never really cared this much for anyone, and yet young Rune was just like a daughter to her. Is this why she was punished and forced into the form of a fox demon? To get her to understand about caring for someone?

"Don't thank me kiddo, I care for you as does Ryu. In fact, I'm pretty sure Cherry here cares for you also." Rose said with a soft smile while giving Cherry a sideways glance. "Just...don't rush things. Don't let anyone coerce you into something you aren't ready for, okay?"

"Hey, I would never do something like that!" Cherry exclaimed, a little hurt in her voice.

"I don't think you would on purpose sweetie, but face it, you can be a little amorous at times." Rose said with a mischievous look.

"I'll be okay, after all I finally have a family and friends to look after me." Rune said with a smile. It may have been an unconventional family with Ryu being like a father, Rose and Lina both acting like mothers and Cherry...she didn't know the girl that well yet, but that kiss...Something was there and Cherry was, or would mean something to her, she just wasn't sure yet as she had a lot to think about and she was still confused by the kiss as it caused so many weird feelings and actually left her wanting for more despite knowing the pain that more would bring to her.

"Good, just don't forget that." Cherry said kissing Rune's cheek, this time in a more innocent manner.

* * *

It had been a tough few weeks since moving in with her teammates in the Uchiha compound, but in all honesty it was also something that she felt was one of the best things to ever happen to her. Sakura was out from under her mother, though her older sister was sadly still under the bitch's thumb. Not that there was much Sakura could do about it anyways. She may be an adult under the eyes of the law for most accounts, however that still held many restrictions of a minor. Even though it was frowned upon, Genin could drink alcohol or use tobacco. It was other things such as having custody of someone else as that was a civilian matter and the civilian council believed that Genin were just not mature enough to take care of a dependent.

She couldn't worry about that at the moment though as she was just finishing up dinner as it was her turn to cook and she was making spaghetti and meatballs with breadsticks and salad. Of course Gray preferred traditional meals including rice, and Sasuke being close to the same even if he did love tomatoes which meant he should be more open to this meal.

Speaking of Sasuke, out of the three of them he seemed to have improved the most despite being hit hard from the truth about his clan's murder. He seemed to act as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and became a lot more open to those around him including both Gray and Sakura herself. Of course he still was wanting to find his brother, but instead of getting revenge it was answers he now wanted.

Speaking of Gray, Sakura had to admit to herself that the guy was kind of hot. Not Sasuke hot, but still hot and he was really nice despite the arguments the two boys would get into at times. They did seem rather heated sometimes, but for the most part Sakura could see that the two enjoyed the fights most of the time using it as a way to blow off steam and have a little fun. He did have a strange quirk that Sakura found very...odd, and it wasn't the fact that he didn't have much of a memory of his life before Konoha. At times the boy would just start stripping his clothes off down to his boxers while acting like it was nothing, at least at the times that he realized he was doing it since at times it seemed to be more of a habit that he didn't realize he was doing. Of course it usually earned him a Sakura Special knocking some sense into him...temporarily.

"Hey babe, what's for dinner?" Gray asked, sniffing the air as he came in to the kitchen to look over the pinkette's shoulder.

"Spaghetti, trust me, you'll love it." Sakura chirped as she turned around to see the boy in his ice blue boxers. Getting a tic, she turned around shaking her fist. "Pervert!"

"Ummm, be right back!" Gray squeaked out as he barely missed the anger driven punch and ran out of the kitchen as Sakura shook her head in annoyance...and a little amusement.

* * *

Tsunade looked tiredly at her apartment after getting a less than good nights sleep. For the time being she was banished from her Clan home because of her mistakes until her finances were put in order. She owed a lot of money to debtors, Shizune and her own granddaughter. Sober as she was now, she knew she didn't have anyone to blame but herself. A part of her wanted so much to just escape the pain, if not by her normal means of drinking herself to unconsciousness, then by putting an end to it in a more permanent method. After all, what did she have to really live for?

So far she had lost her fiancé and brother to a fools quest of becoming Hokage. If that wasn't enough, she was stupid enough to go drink and gamble so much of her families fortune disgracing her heritage and making her Clan's name a joke among the elemental nations. People even began calling herself the legendary sucker making casinos begin to rub their hands in glee when they learned she was coming. Thanks to her constant binge she even lost her apprentice, her fiancé's daughter Shizune long before even returning to Konoha. She never knew about Shizune having to actual...live up to that nickname among other things. Knowing what the girl did to keep the both of them out of debtors prison and have that forced on them by the inmates as their chakra would be sealed.

If that wasn't enough, she was stupid enough to give up her son and missed raising him. She even missed out on raising a beautiful granddaughter because she was so lost in her drunken state that she refused to take responsibility for the young girl that she promised Kushina that she would take care of if anything ever happened to the redhead and Minato. If only she kept her promise then maybe some of her own pain could have been healed and the pain both Shizune and Naru went through could have been prevented. If only she was there for Naru she wouldn't have been cheated out of being a shinobi and would have had her clan's name backing her as would have been her true right. If only Tsunade kept her promise to Kushina then Naru would never had to experience so much pain.

"I deserve this." Tsunade sighed as she looked around the apartment that should have been condemned long ago. In fact, all of the furniture should have been too if not burned as it was barely holding together from one too many shoddy patch jobs. It was one of the apartments next to Naru's that she would have to live in until both probation was over and she paid back most of what she owed.

She thought about going down the hall to see her old teammate, but it just reminded her of something else she lost. Jiraiya was a fool and would easily forgive most anyone easily enough. What she did though, hiding Minato from him, she realized it was unforgivable which is exactly what he told her. He refused to speak to her and even went as far as threatening her when she went to his apartment and tried to force him to talk. He never threatened her before, always letting her vent her anger on him, but not this time.

"Just something else I managed to screw up." Tsunade sighed as she dropped into her ragged couch only for one of the legs to snap dropping the corner to the floor leaving it badly off level. Burying her face into her hands she began sobbing while once again thinking about just ending it, but it was something she didn't have the luxury off. Hiruzen was right, she needed to grow up, take responsibility, and set things right. She just didn't have any idea of how to go about doing it. Hell, a part of her wasn't sure she deserved to have another chance, or even if she wanted it.

* * *

Jiraiya sighed as he looked around the apartment, he deserved this, he truly did. After abandoning his goddaughter...no, she was his granddaughter and he abandoned her to the hellish fate she lived through in this damned village. Maybe Orochimaru had something when he said this village wasn't worth the effort to protect. His sensei and best friend, his teammate, took the only family he had away from him and the worse part is he never even knew it.

His current mood was reflected by the mess in apartment as every piece of furniture in the living room slash kitchenette was destroyed in his fit of anger. He wasn't pissed about having to live in this dump as he had lived in places worse than this as he traveled since he had to maintain his identity. Life on the road was hard as he couldn't exactly flaunt his money except when gambling or visiting contacts as he was really paying them for their information and not throwing around money as it looked. He never really spent much on himself as he just didn't really need or want anything...except for a family.

Tear stains joined the red markings on his face from the night of crying, hell who needed sleep anyways as it was overrated. Is this what Naru, his little girl felt when she was betrayed by those that should have been respecting her and protecting her? What idiots, and he was an even greater idiot than them. He felt like he lost a son when Minato died, and in truth he did, but he should never have took it out on Naru by abandoning her to her fate. True, he never in a million years believed things would go as far as they did, but a small part of him hoped that the damned fox would feel some of the pain that he new the girl would feel.

"Why the hell did I even want that?" Jiraiya screamed as he thrust a rasengan through the small counter which doubled as an eating area with a couple stools. Splinters flew everywhere as the room shook from the explosion.

* * *

Shizune sighed as she sorted through the stacks of paperwork while wondering if this is what she should be doing. She was so upset, so angry and so...heartbroken over what happened with her mentor. When the Sandime came to her though offering her a place to stay and a job she took it as she had no where else to go at the moment seeing how she had very little money thanks to Tsunade. She never expected this though when asked about her skills. She was sitting in the office of the head of the hospital, her office now, as she went through all of the paperwork. So far she found five doctors and eight nurses that will be losing their jobs from the notes they were stupid enough to keep. Really, did they think no one would ever bother looking through files finding so many notes saying how they thought one Mitarashi, Anko should just die and that she should never be given any help if they come in. No wonder the Hokage had the bitch that was the ex head sitting with Ibiki right now.

As pissed and heartbroken as she was right now with Tsunade, Shizune would do her best to help the woman if brought in. After all she was a doctor and it was a doctor's responsibility to do their best to make sure their patient got the best care possible. Something this place just didn't know how to do, they didn't know how to take care of their own. This place rejected the very tenant of the Fire Nation and the Will of Fire.

"Why did I accept this?" Shizune sighed as she slumped over letting her head slam into the desk.

"Because you know your the best person for the job." A man's voice said with a little humor, though the sadness it carried was unmistakable. Looking up the young woman saw her Hokage standing there with a soft look on his face, though his eyes held so much pain.

"This place is a mess, sir. There's so much corruption and laziness in the hospital." Shizune sighed in frustration.

"As there is all across the village, Shizune." Hiruzen said taking a seat facing Shizune from across the desk. "There is a lot of work to do and I'm glad that I have someone here I can trust here to take care of the hospital. Things are going to change around here Shizune, there will be no more being soft on these fools. If they screw up, they will pay for it. The daimyo will not allow any more softness and neither will I. It's time this village, and myself, find our backbone once again."

"That's good to hear, I just hope you have some doctors and nurses since we are about to lose so many." Shizune sighed tossing the stack of folders to the Hokage. "These people not only need to lose their jobs, but need to be arrested for criminal neglect of their patients."

"I'll have ANBU pick them up and see about getting replacements for you." Hiruzen sighed as he flipped through the folders, disgust at some of the notes calling Anko a snake whore and other names even more disgusting, He was happy that Anko has such a high immunity for poisons as it looked like a few of them actually tried to combine several medications in a way that looked innocent to normal eyes, but anyone who knew about them would know that those combinations could have a very toxic reaction to each other which would be fatal to most anyone. Oh, he was going to make sure they paid.

* * *

Kakashi sighed deeply, breathing in the scent of the soft body pressed against his under the sheets. Anko's head laid on his chest as if it were a pillow as he stroked her hair as she slept. They were pretty much good friends for years, him being one of the few who saw the beautiful woman as she was. Sadly it took him being blind to Naru going through the same thing and the girl being hurt badly and running away for the two to get together.

He wondered if he even deserved having Anko with him as in a way it felt as if he was being rewarded for the suffering that he not only ignored, but even the pain he caused the child. Why did he let the council and Danzo convince him that the young blonde was the fox? he made it so easy to as he more or less become that bastards lapdog and was surprised when the old man was arrested while Kakashi was only questioned. A part of him believed that he belonged in jail to, but the Hokage and Ibiki both told him that he was a victim of Danzo's manipulations and mind games.

It took so much for him to see what was happening right under his nose, but he swore that he would make it up. He would prove that he was worthy of Anko's love and hopefully someday Naru's forgiveness. He would find her and do everything he could to make up all that he did and overlooked to the young girl. He would even give his life to the girl if that was the payment she demanded from him for his part in her pain.

"Kashi, are you brooding again?" Anko asked sleepily as she raised up onto her elbows letting the sheets fall off of her shoulders as she looked up at Kakashi.

"Of course not my princess, how could I when I have such a lovely woman in my bed?" Kakashi asked though Anko knew the truth. She was proud that he finally got away from the hate speech and mind games of that bastard on the council, but a part of her still hated the man that hurt Naru while loving the man that she knew was the real Kakashi.

"Kashi, listen to me, we WILL find her and we will take her in. Fuck what the council says, we will protect her and show her that people do love her." Anko said with fire burning in her eyes. She tried before so many times, but every time she tried to get close to Naru those bastards on the council forced her into an S class mission that in all honesty she should have never made it back from.

"I know we will, I just wish I...I just wish that a little girl didn't have to suffer to make me see clearly what I was becoming." Kakashi sighed as he kissed Anko's forehead.

* * *

Rune laid in bed in her room at the shop late that night after her first performance at the Fire Lotus thinking about everyone she met there and her first real kiss. All of the girls there were really nice to her and though there were so many men around which made her a little uncomfortable after the kiss Cherry gave her, Lina was able to help her keep calm enough not to have a flash back. Actually she was a little shocked that she didn't completely freak out when Cherry initially kissed her, but believed Lina had a point that her subconscious most likely didn't see the redhead as a threat as she was another girl.

Everyone that worked at the Lotus was really nice to her, treating her like a little sister as they got to know each other before opening. Even the guys that were the bouncers and workers for the few women clients that came in treated her like a little sister. When one of the clients went over the line of the small throw rug that Rune's place sat one of the girls would get his attention and lead him away. Most of the clients knew the rules and respected them, but when the one drunk idiot didn't listen to the rules and started propositioning Rune one of the two bouncers came forward, smashed the mans head into a table and dragged him out while the other replaced the now broken table while none of the clients seemed to pay much attention.

Thankfully Orchid came over to refill her drink, though she really came to make sure Rune was okay. The woman had long white hair tied in a tight braid with red eyes that almost glowed and seemed to be about the same age as Rose herself. She served as both a server and bartender for the Lotus and seemed to dote on Rune just as much as Rose had.

As the night dragged on Lina had to admit that her momentary worry about the Mistress of the Lotus was unfounded as she also made sure that no one bothered Rune outside of making a request. She even permanently banned the man who wouldn't take no for an answer for Rune when he was tossed out. He was a high paying customer and Rose didn't care as she grew pissed that the bastard was hitting on not only their bard, but one of Rose's unofficial daughters when she didn't want that kind of attention.

Thinking back to Cherry though Rune touched her lips again as she thought about the passionate kiss that the girl gave her. She wasn't very experienced with sex, much less very knowledgeable about it. She knew what Lina and the few people who talked to her about it explained, but all she knew for sure was the pain it brought. There was no pain though from the kiss and though she was a little scared at the time, the kiss also brought other reactions that she wasn't prepared for. The biggest and most shocking reaction was the fact that she regretted when the kiss ended as a large part of her wanted it to go on despite the voice in the back of her head that started to panic. Could it be true that it didn't have to hurt? Could she really enjoy it if she gave it a chance with someone she cared about? How could Cherry and the others do it though with people they didn't care about as she remembered that Lina told her not long after leaving Konoha that it was something that was the ultimate expression of love between two people? She had so many questions as her confusion over the whole subject grew even more, but a part of her couldn't forget about that kiss. There was some kind of unspoken promise behind that kiss and a part of her wanted to find out what it was.

"What do I do?" Rune sighed to herself as she pulled the covers over her head trying to figure out just what happened and what was happening to her.


	8. Act I Part VIII Cherry

**Siren's Song  
Act I Part VIII  
Cherry**

* * *

I have a question for everyone about the future of this story. Should Rune learn a lot of strong magic, maybe some spells such as the Dragon Slave that can take out large groups or stick with simple spells such as the Mirror Clone? If she does learn large scale spells that causes a lot of damage, she won't be able to use them left and right as it takes time to prepare them, but against bandits and idiots such as Gato's group she should be able to use them easy enough. Other Ninja though would move too fast and wouldn't give her much of a chance to use most spells.

* * *

Rune Age 13...

"So, your birthday is coming up in a few weeks, huh?" Cherry asked as she sat across from Rune as the two enjoyed a meal after the long night. As usual they were busy since it turned out that while a lot of the customers did come for the more private services, there were many that just came to relax and enjoy the music and food.

"A little over a month actually." Rune sighed nervously. She wasn't really too excited about it as no matter how much she tried to ignore the pain of the past, she couldn't. Every year she would be beaten and hurt on her birthday, even worse than her weekly beatings, and that made her fear her birthday no matter how safe being here made her feel. Three months did a lot for her as Ryu taught her the music to become a better bard as well as the skills she needed to protect herself despite her not wanting to become a ninja anymore. Even Lina was teaching her stuff such as small spells that were pretty fun and helped her safely learn to control her youkai.

"What do you want for your birthday then sweetie?" Cherry asked as she brushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. Rune couldn't help blush at that as Cherry always called her stuff like that, and despite Rose also calling her names like that, she could tell that Cherry meant it in a different way. After all the few times Cherry cornered Rune, the redhead had kissed the younger girl with a deep passion that filled Rune and left the girl wanting more of it, more of...something else.

And then there was the shameless flirting between the two, though at first Rune wasn't sure what was going on. It made her feel embarrassed a little at first, but it also made her feel...it made her feel good. She liked it, liked knowing that Cherry thought she was pretty after having to hide as a boy for so long. It felt so good just being a girl finally despite the fear she had of it at first. Cherry helped her get over a lot of the left over fear the last couple months as they became best of friends as well as Ryu, Rose, Lina and all of the others around her making her feel good. They made her feel loved and wanted, something she never experienced before.

"What do you mean?" Rune asked after a few moments, putting down her mug of warm cider.

"Birthday presents silly. What would you like?" Cherry asked while giving Rune the redhead's best cherry smile. The smile made Rune smile more herself thinking that Cherry's name fit her so well in so many different ways from her cherry red hair to her cherry and outgoing personality.

"I don't really need anything, I'm just happy having you all in my life." Rune sighed as she tried to evade the question and the feelings it was threatening her with.

"I'll figure something out then." Cherry said with an even brighter smile.

"Are you staying over tonight, dear?" Rose asked as she sashayed her way to their table and sat down next to Rune, giving the younger girl a peck on the cheek in greeting as well as leaning across the table and giving the redhead one as well.

"I think so, I have the day off tomorrow and Cherry and I were planning to go shopping in the morning. There's a few places I wanted to check out and I'm hoping to have enough with my tips from tonight to get that jewelry set from the thrift store." Rune said with a hopeful look on her face. Lina had told her that the set looked so familiar when she saw it a week prior, though the demoness was having a hard time remembering why. It was just a set of cheap costume jewelry that was made with cheap gems that looked a little gaudy, but something drew the girl to them as well as the fox demoness. There was a choker set with a small red gem, two bracelets with the same gems, and a damaged belt with another of the gems inlaid into the buckle.

"That eyesore?" Rune asked as she arched an eyebrow at the girl. The woman had seen Rune looking a it intently and offered to buy it then for Rune, but the girl insisted on buying it herself with her own money for some reason. It was kind of weird, because Rune had accepted all kinds of gifts that cost so much more, but something kept her from accepting the offer for some reason.

"It isn't that bad, Rose." Rune giggled, "It's actually kind of pretty."

"You're kind of pretty, those things are an eyesore." Rose said with a teasing smile.

"Kind of...pretty?" Rune asked with an exaggerated sniffle.

"Okay, your beautiful." Rose said with a playful roll of her eyes. The woman meant it though as Rune was very beautiful and Rose knew that given another year or two that the girl would become a real beauty when she matured a little more.

"Hello ladies." A new voice broke in grabbing their attention. When Rune looked up she saw a strange man there wearing very expensive looking clothing and surrounded by two of the cities guards standing on either side of him. The man could have been considered very handsome if it wasn't for the cruel gleam in his eyes as his eyes looked over the three at the table while both Rock and Stone hurried behind them with a sad apologetic look on their faces that Rune never saw there before. The two men were the bouncers for the lotus, their names chosen because of the rock hard muscles and the stone wall aura that they gave off to people who went against them.

"Hello...Lord Darius." Rose said with barely veiled disgust as the man's eyes lingered on Cherry before switching over to Rune herself. "And who might you be my beautiful little flower?"

"My name is Rune." Rune said, fear creeping into her as she adverted her gaze to Cherry to see the slightly fearful look in the redhead's gaze as well as a look of anger as she fidgeted under the man's gaze.

"Ah, I take it you aren't one of Rose's girls then?" The man asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"No she isn't, she's just my bard and she's getting ready to leave for the night." Rose said as she gave Rune a stern look that filled the girl with worry.

"Too bad then." Darius said with a snort, "I guess Cherry and I will just head up and have a little fun then."

"We're closed Darius, why don't you head on home." Rose said as she kept glancing hard at Rune and motioning for the girl to leave while trying to avoid the man noticing.

"Well, since this fine young woman is getting ready to leave maybe she can keep me company tonight." Darius said while smirking at Rose, "Or perhaps I should have some of my father's men to come check out your books and make sure that you are paying all of your taxes?"

"Leave her alone." Rose snarled at the man who only grew an even smugger grin.

"Mistress, don't worry, it's okay." Cherry said as she climbed from her seat, resignation filling her voice.

"Don't Cherry, I'll handle this." Rose said as she started to get up only to have one of the guards with Darius roughly shove her back into her seat.

"It'll be okay, mama." Cherry said softly, giving Rose a pleading look to get the woman to just leave things to her. That worried Rune even more as Cherry, and several of the other girls, only called Rose mama when no one else was around as they showed her respect as their Mistress in public where anyone could hear them.

As the small group moved toward the curtained exit to the hallway that lead to the steps to the upstairs rooms the two guards stationed themselves at the bottom to block anyone from going up.

"Rune, baby, I need you to go home." Rose said as her voice wavered a bit as she avoided looking at Rune.

"Why? What's wrong? Who are they?" Rune asked, worry and fear filling her.

"He is Lord Darius, the mayor's son. Everything will be fine sweetie, he's just here to talk to Cherry for a little bit." Rose said though Rune could not only see worry in the older woman's eyes, but worry as well. "I do need you to run home though for now sweetie, I don't want you to be here when he comes back down to keep him away from you."

'Listen to her, kit.' Lina sighed, urging Rune to listen. She was sure she knew what was happening as this kind of thing wasn't uncommon even when she was still at full power before her punishment. Even though her memory seemed like swiss cheese at times, she knew that some sick bastards that held the power like this man and his father held would often abuse it.

"Will Cherry be okay?" Rune asked while swallowing hard with worry.

"Of course she will, honey. Darius is an asshole, but he won't hurt her." Rose sighed. "But I need you to head on home for tonight sweetie."

"Okay, but I'll come by as soon as I wake up." Rune sighed as Rose and her moved toward the curtained exit to the foyer. Before Rune could leave though, Rose engulfed her in a hug giving her a kiss on the head. "I love you honey, I'll see you later."

* * *

Slowly she opened her eyes, her head pounding brutally making her wince as she tried to sit up only to find her arms secured tightly by her sides. There was some kind of straps tied to something that the woman couldn't see in the darkened room. Widening her eyes Tsunade tried to break free from her bindings to learn that her ankles here secured in a similar manner to the not so soft bed.

"You were seriously trying to kill yourself, weren't you?" A sad, almost broken sounding voice asked from the corner of the room. The voice sounded familiar, but in her hazed state she couldn't figure out anything other than it was a woman's voice. "If it wasn't for the ANBU making their regular checkup on you, the poison would have finished you off. Hell, it was lucky that I even had a vial of antidote on hand since the poison you used was so rare."

It was then that Tsunade remembered what happened as she finally broke and gave up on even trying anymore to fix things as there seemed to be no way to. Everyone that she knew was angry at her though the villagers still treated her very well as they either didn't know what she did to Shizune or didn't care about Naru. No one would listen to her other than the old man Hokage, and even he was on bad terms with her so she took a half dozen medicines that were commonly sold at any pharmacy and a few herbs bought from the Yamanka Flower Shop and combined them in a way that would quickly cause reactions through out her body forcing her major organs to fail. They medicines were not supposed to be used together as they had nasty side effects if combined and the herbs only managed to increase the potency of it.

"Why did you do it?" The voice croaked, cracking as it tried to stay strong.

"Why not? I fucked up everything I had left because...Because I was too blind to see everything I did have until it was too late." Tsunade said, tears welling up. "I threw my son away, lost my granddaughter, alienated my friends and lost the one woman who I thought of as a daughter. All because of my selfishness and stupidity. I deserve to die!"

"No...No you don't deserve to die. You sound like your pretty sorry about everything." The voice sighed as someone moved to stand above the woman and run their fingers through her hair. "How long has it been since you even washed this, its all sticky and greasy."

"I don't know." Tsunade sighed, wondering why she was being so open with whoever this was. Maybe what ever they pumped her full of was making her more honest and open. Hell, it was making her thoughts foggy as hell and she knew several medicines that acted as sedative while having the side effect of making the person more open.

"You know you hurt Shizune very badly." The voice sighed as the person pulled their hand back. "I don't know if she will ever be willing to give you another chance."

"I don't deserve it anyways." Tsunade admitted as she turned her head away from the direction of the voice. "I love her and look what I did to her. All the pain I caused her."

"If I got her to give you another chance, would you really change? No more drinking or gambling? Would you actually listen to her this time?" The voice asked, growing a little flatter with doubt yet there seemed to be a glimmer of hope.

"I'd do anything if she would at least talk to me." Tsunade sobbed painfully.

"Then I guess I'll give you a chance." The voice sighed, "When I release you, I want you to move in with me where I can keep an eye on you and make sure you don't pull another stupid stunt like this."

"Wh-what?" Tsunade asked in confusion. Why the hell would this person want her to move in with them?

"I never stopped loving you. You hurt me...badly...but I never stopped loving you." The voice sniffed as Tsunade finally realized why the voice sounded so familiar. It was Shizune's voice and she sounded like she was going to give Tsunade a chance. She couldn't stop herself from crying when the woman turned on a soft light providing a little illumination showing what Tsunade was suspecting; she was in a hospital room.

"Thank you." Tsunade sobbed as Shizune gave her a weary look.

"I will be back in a little bit to check on you, I need a little time to think." Shizune sighed as she kissed Tsunade's forehead before walking out of the room and softly closing the door behind her.

* * *

Sasuke laid on top of his home's room with his arms folded under his head as he looked up at the stars. He was having trouble sleeping again as he wondered yet again if he did the right thing. Obviously his father would be greatly disappointed in him, but Sasuke wasn't so sure he gave a damn about that man any longer. He was starting to think that the bastard was better off six feet under. It was his mother he was worried about. Thinking back to her though, he was sure that he made the right decision not to be the one to carry out the death sentences for the council elders and instead let the Hokage and the ANBU deal with their punishments.

Everything seemed so strange though now that he knew the truth as he felt so much lighter as if a crushing weight had been lifted from him. His goals that he spent so many years working toward was pointless now leaving him with a bit of a void in his life. For the first time in his life, he found himself directionless in a way with so many options for his future that it made it confusing and a little hard deciding what to do.

Of course he knew he was still going to be a ninja, that didn't change with the revelations about his clan and the truth behind their murder. While it wasn't public knowledge, he knew a large portion of the clan was in the wrong and Sasuke didn't want the clan to ever fall back into that pattern. In fact, he cursed himself as he realized that he was well on his way to becoming his father's son if everything that happened didn't put a stop to it. He silently thanked Naru for saving him yet felt guilty for all the pain the girl went through. He swore that if he ever got the chance he would do anything in his power to make it up to her.

Taking a deep breath his thoughts drifted to his future team as the Hokage had already told them that he was proud of them and the progress all of them made the last few months. He told them that he was happy that they were regaining the will of fire that was almost extinguished due to their circumstances and manipulations of certain people. Kakashi was a big surprise as the Hokage explained to them that they might as well get used to him being late to team meetings, but after the first couple weeks the man almost always showed up early. He seemed sad while having a determination to do all three of them right. Iruka was teaching them the knowledge that the team would need, but Kakashi was teaching them about teamwork as well as ninjutsu and some taijutsu.

Of course Kakashi wasn't the only one with supposed improvements, though Sasuke knew for a fact that Sakura had also made a lot of improvements. The girl was taking her training seriously after she moved in with them, only saying that she would prove that she wasn't worthless. She was determined to show that she would be successful as a ninja and shove that fact, along with a kunai, down the bitch that was her mother's throat. The girl was really impressing Sasuke, and he had to admit now that his obsession with his brother was mostly gone, he could see Sakura for the girl that she was and with her fangirl way's mostly gone he thought that just maybe he could come to like her.

Speaking of Sakura's mother, Sasuke was a little pissed that Sakura couldn't take care of her older sister because the girl was a civilian. Despite mostly being viewed as an adult since becoming Genin, the laws wouldn't let anyone under majority have custody of another child. It was a messed up law though as it stated all children would be protected and yet they learned that it wasn't so for Naru which managed to piss Sasuke off even more about the situation. Right now Anko was keeping an eye out on the civilian girl as the bitch of a mother was serving her six month sentence for a small crime that was uncovered by the recent investigation. In fact, many civilian council members were serving sentences ranging from six months to life as well as being levied with fines.

Finally there was his newest team member who was a mystery to them. He was a strange one indeed with his messed up memory and weird habits. One of said habits was stripping down to his boxers at the oddest times which often earned a bop on the head by Sakura as punishment for being perverted. His kekkai genkai though was something that complimented Sasuke's own ninja abilities as it controlled ice while the Uchiha was very proficient with fire. Of course the two could get into arguments, but they had also became best of friends along with Sakura. It was actually kind of funny, out of all the teams the Hokage had told them that they were displaying the best teamwork despite starting off with the worse.

"I'll make you proud of me mother and I swear I'll make the Uchiha name something you would have been proud of." Sasuke promised his mother as he closed his eyes. For a moment he was sure he heard his mother's laugh over the breeze as it felt like his spirit was uplifted greatly. He could almost hear his mother's voice telling him that she was already proud of him.

* * *

After breakfast with Ryu, Rune hurried straight over to the Fire Lotus to hang out with her best friend though she was filled with worry. Meeting that bastard last night had shaken her up a little and the way Cherry and Rose reacted to him and sent her home despite the plans to spend the night at the Lotus. Thankfully the shop wasn't too far from the Lotus and it only took a matter of minutes to get there, even with several people opening their shops and greeting her as she passed.

Once she pushed her way into the Lotus, a cold chill went up Rune's back at the chill and somber atmosphere that seemed to permeate the foyer. Once she pushed her way through the sheer curtains to the common room, a knot formed in her stomach. Most of the girl's were gathered around in the room, most having sad expressions with several really angry ones. It was easy to see that many of them had been crying as well.

"What's wrong?" Rune asked, looking around the room as her fear grew even more. Rose stood and hurried to gather the younger girl in her arms and held tightly as the girl realized that Cherry was missing.

"Where's Cherry?" Rune asked as she started to shake.

"She isn't feeling to good, sweetie. She's resting right now after Granny gave her some medicine to help her." Rose explained. Rune knew that something was serious as Granny was a doctor that took care of the girls here and insisted that they all call her Granny as she was really old yet she seemed so young.

"What's wrong with her?" Rune asked, her voice cracking with worry.

"She's just...resting sweetie." Rose said, her own voice wavering. Rune pulled out of the woman's arms and tore off through the curtain and up the stairs to Cherry's suite and didn't even bother knocking as she rushed straight through the door.

"Cherry..." Rune sobbed as she took one slow step after another as she stumbled to the redhead's bedside and collapsed onto her knees. The young redhead was covered in bruises as she breathed irregularly despite being asleep. She tentatively reached out to touch her before letting her hand drop to her side in fear of hurting Cherry even more.

"She'll be okay sweetie." Rose whispered into her hair after embracing Rune from behind and hugging her tightly.

"What happened to her?" Rune sobbed.

"That man last night...he didn't like when she told him to go to hell." Rose whispered. "She'll be okay sweetie, but she needs to rest. Come downstairs and I'll get you something to eat."

"I already ate." Rune sighed, "The mayor's son did this? Did you report him?"

"Sweetie, he is the mayor's son and this always gets swept under the carpet." Rose sighed.

"Those bastards are going to get away with this?" Rune sobbed looking at the battered face on her best friend as she heard Lina growling angrily in her mind.

'If I wasn't stuck here I'd kill the little bastard!' Lina snarled making Rune wince, but think about what was said by both Rose and Lina.

"Always...this has happened before?" Rune asked nervously as Rose helped her up.

"Every once in awhile he comes in here and demands free food and...company. He gets rough sometimes, but never anything like this. Still, when I made a complaint before it always makes things worse when he comes with more of his cronies." Rose said sadly. "If I knew this was going to happen I would have never let Cherry..."

"I have to go." Rune said as she pulled away and stumbled a couple steps before she ran from the room and straight out of the Lotus and kept running until she dropped to her hands and knees crying. She knew the pain Cherry was in and she never wanted to see anyone in that kind of pain, especially her best friend.

'I wish there was something I could do.' Lina finally sighed. 'I don't have any magic that can heal her.'

"He'll pay for this." Rune snarled, her eyes flashing red for several moments. She couldn't let this slide, she refused to. She could take the pain when it happened to her, she was used to it and grew up with it, but she refused to let her best friend constantly go through it.

'He'll never stop, I know men like this.' Lina growled, 'There's only one way to deal with trash like this.'

The tone of the demoness's voice scared Rune for a moment before she realized exactly what the demoness meant, and for a moment so did she. It meant taking a life though, killing someone. She would be a murderer...

'I'm sorry kit, I didn't mean...' Lina started.

"No...your right." Rune said as she clenched her jaw. "If something isn't done, he'll hurt her again."

'No, Rune, listen to me. Let Rose handle this, it's her job.' Lina tried to persuade Rune to forget about the direction of her thoughts which was being influenced by Lina's own anger.

"Fine job she's doing!" Rune snarled as she climbed to her feet, "I'm doing this, now either you can help me figure out how to deal with him or I'll do it myself."

'Fine...but, only if you agree to rest for a little bit first.' Lina replied with a deep, shuddering sigh.

"Fine." Rune grumbled as she pushed up to sit on her knees and look around her to find herself in an alley that looked somewhat familiar. It took a few moments to realize that she ended up in the richer part of town that she passed through a few times with Rose when going to some of the upper scale shops.

"Hey boss, why don't we make some of those whores come tonight." A man's voice asked as three shadows passed down the path at the end of the alley.

"Forget them, I really roughed up that slut last night and I don't want to have to deal with that bitch Rose." A familiar voice replied. It took Rune several moments to realize it was Darius's voice, that bastard son of the mayor. "Give the slut a few days to think about the offer I gave that either she becomes my little pet permanently or I start killing the rest of those whores."

'That bastard!' Lina snarled inside Rune's head, mimicking Rune's own thoughts. 'If only there was enough seals removed I'd...I'd...bite his ankle...'

The comment was a little weird, but Rune shoved it to the back of her mind for the time being as the fox demoness's mental voice took on a more depressed tone. Rune was about to ask what was wrong when the men's voices broke into her thoughts.

"Well, what do you want to do?" One of the voices asked, a strange tone in his voice.

"Find some toys for me tonight, and if you find a good one maybe I'll let you have a go when I'm finished." Darius said, his voice sounding slimy and...and..._disgusting_!

"When they say toys...they mean...do they..." Rune asked mentally as she fought down the bile in her stomach.

'Girls sweetie, the bastards are planning to...Let's just go back to the shop..." Lina said sadness and disgust lacing her tone as she tried to urge Rune to walk away. Instead the demoness sighed as she felt the power surge through the girl, energy washing through her hair as her eyes flashed momentarily with power. 'Green?'

"It's bright and eye catching." Rune said with a mental smile. Lina just shook her head pleading with the girl to just walk away for the moment when Rune climbed to her feet and noticed a flash of light in a pile of garbage at the side of the alley. With a smile Rune moved over to pick it up and admired the emerald green coloring of her hair and eyes. With a bigger smirk Rune threw the mirror on the ground and summoned two mirror clones. "I think it's time for someone to pay the piper."


	9. Act I Part IX Death

**Act I, Part IX  
Death**

Thank you everyone for your great reviews and suggestions. I'm working on deciding just what spells to use and some of them will be revealed at the beginning of Book II which will begin in just a few more chapters. I'm already feeling sorry for the poor bandits...

Anywho, I got an unsigned review by Hayden p576. Thanks for the review and Rune will definitely learn some area of effect spells as she begins to build a reputation very soon.

I wasn't planning on having this finished until late tomorrow night or Saturday morning, but the doctor appointment for today was changed so I had a lot of free time to get this finished and hope everyone likes it.

* * *

Rune Age 13...

"Did I hear you gentlemen were looking for a good time?" Rune purred as she was flanked by her clones which were exact duplicates of her, green hair and eyes and all. They weren't as beautiful as the women in the lotus in Rune's opinion, her body wasn't anywhere near as curvy and voluptuous as the girls, but she knew there was something there that the head bastard seemed interested in and she was hoping that he would still see it.

"We are, what's it to you?" Darius asked as he sneered at her, but he was obviously looking them over. He arched his eyebrow as his eyes traveled over the three girls bodies realizing that they were identical.

"Well, we're triplets and our parents abandoned us. If we become...your pets...we would have a roof over our heads at least." Rune said as she took his arm and leaned into him, her body pressing up against Darius while looking coyly up at him. On the inside she was shaking with disgust and a little fear, but her hatred and anger at this man was keeping her fear away mostly.

"So you three want to be my pets?" Darius asked, a smirk slowly growing on his face.

'Careful kit, these men will more likely kill you that keep you around.' Lina said cautiously. 'In fact, I really think you should forget this and just run.'

"No, Lina." Rune said mentally, replying to the demoness with shaky confidence. "I won't let them get away with what they did to Cherry only to do it again and again."

"We'll do anything you want." Rune purred, her voice becoming suggestive when saying 'anything.'

"Well then, I think we can come to an arrangement." Darius said running his hand down Rune's back to cup and squeeze her ass making her eep. "But first, we need to see just what you fine ladies can do."

"Of course." Rune said with a sweet smile while scowling mentally.

"Then let's go ladies." Darius said, "And you will refer to me as Master."

"Yes, Master." Rune and her clones said in unison, though all of them shared the same urge to throw up. One of the clones took his other arm while the third walked between the two guards behind him as they walked slowly deeper into the richest part of town until they came to one of the largest compounds.

The two guards stopped as soon as they entered the mansion to bar the door and follow them into the foyer. Darius grabbed her hand roughly while the two guards grabbed her 'sisters' roughly keeping them from following Rune and Darius. "Aren't we staying together?"

"Did I tell you to talk?" Darius snarled as he stopped and let go of Rune's hand to backhand her across her cheek hard enough to knock her off her feet making her vision swim.

"N-No Master." Rune said, her voice cracking as she was on the verge of tears. The pain in her jaw was quickly fading thanks to Lina, but it was a shock that was making her shake a little.

"Good, your a much faster learner than that whore." Darius said with a smirk as he grabbed her hair and yanked her back to her feet. He ignored Rune's squeaks and protests as he dragged her from the room and down a hallway to a bedroom where he shoved her inside and shut the door after him.

'Kit, snap out of it!' Lina shouted angrily in Rune's head, though her anger was directed at this man who dared lay his fingers on her adopted daughter.

"Strip." Darius growled as Rune regained her senses, but it was too slow as he picked her up and threw her onto the bed and crawled in on top of her, kissing her roughly as he fumbled with her clothes trying to rip them off.

"What was I thinking?" Rune cried mentally as she froze up trying to force herself to move and do something. This monster was kissing her, pawing at her, and all she had was instruments in her storage seal tattoos.

'Kit, listen to me, you have to concentrate.' Lina urged Rune, sending her support over their bond. 'Ryu taught you a couple jutsu, use them!'

"Wh-What?" Rune mumbled in confusion, her head swimming as memories hit her from her clones. They were shattered when casting fire jutsu that engulfed the guards in flames. A moment later their shrieks of pain filled the air surprising Darius who leaned up to look at the door.

"What the hell?" Darius snarled as he let Rune move enough to go through several hand signs.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!" Rune called out gathering chakra to create the oil and igniting it into a ball of fire throwing Darius off of her while engulfing him in intense flames. She wasn't very good at the technique, it wasn't her affinity either, but she was able to create a fireball large enough to set fire to the bastard civilian that was pinning her down. If she was stronger, or even better with the attack she could have almost instantly kill him since he didn't know how to shield against it. His screams of pain as he flailed around the room catching everything he touched on fire.

'Move it! Get out of there before someone comes of the place burns down!' Lina shouted out snapping Rune out of her fear as she jumped from the bed unsteadily. She was fixing her clothes as she stumbled from the room to find the guards already dead, their bodies on fire in the middle of an inferno. The fire was too big to get to the door so she made her way to a window and after finding it sealed she jumped through the glass holding her arms over her face to protect herself from the glass.

It took several minutes to run from the burning mansion, ignoring the cries of the workers fleeing from the building. As she ran through the shadows of an alley as night had fallen in the time that she was in the building surprising her. She didn't know she was there that long, but her fear must have made things seem to go by much faster. She kept seeing images that was disturbing her as memories were starting to take form from what happened with the clones. She started shaking as Lina reminded her to change her hair and eyes back, which she started to do before she collapsed in tears as she shook.

* * *

"Where the hell is she?" Ryu asked with a sigh as he made his way down an alley with Rose, checking yet another alley with Rose as several of the other girls along with the guys checked other parts of town. All of them was worried sick about her after she ran out of the Fire Lotus and seemed to disappear. Rose was sure that she probably tried something stupid and all Ryu could do was pray that the girl didn't get into any trouble. He kept sending mental prayers in hopes that they would be heard and Rune would be safe.

"This is why I really didn't want her to see Cherry." Rose sniffed, her eyes bloodshot from the crying between worrying about Cherry and now Rune. "I knew she would do something to try and help her."

"She's a good kid, Rose." Ryu sighed, "Both of them are and neither of them deserve the hell that they've seen in their lives. That bastard Darius should be killed, hell, so should his worthless father."

"And who is going to do it? Look what happened to you when you confronted them over it!" Rose exclaimed, turning to glare at Ryu.

"This happened after the Kyuubi attacked." Ryu said in defense of himself. In truth, he knew that he wasn't hurt this bad before the mayor did this to him. His leg healed, not completely, but enough to easily walk. When he confronted the mayor about his son, the man had his goons attack the leg that was well known around there to already be damaged. After they finished with it, it never healed right with the additional damage.

"Don't feed me that you old fart, I know better. I'm not as clueless as some people believe!" Rose snapped.

"Sweetie, I never thought you clueless." Ryu sighed as he caressed her cheek and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I love you too much to think you clueless."

"Then don't lie to me." Rose said, almost ready to continue when they heard soft sobs coming from farther down the alley. The two hurried down the alley to find Rune on the ground curled up in a ball in the fetal position. Her clothes had small rips soaked in blood, a few bigger rips looking as if someone tried to tear them off of her. She smelled a little of smoke which confused and worried the two.

"Rune, sweetie?" Rose asked as she kneeled down to stroke the young girl's hair.

"I killed them...I killed them..." Rune cried hugging her knees tighter.

"Who Rune?" Rose asked, fear filling her.

"Darius and his guards." Rune sobbed, "They hurt Cherry and I wanted...I wanted to...They were touching me, tearing my clothes off...They...They were beating my clones...beating me...and..."

"Oh sweetie." Rose cried as she pulled the girl into her lap and held her tight while shooting a look up to Ryu. They knew there was going to be trouble with what happened as the Mayor would be out for blood.

* * *

"Hey..." Jiraiya sighed as he sat in the chair near Tsunade, refusing to look at her.

"Hey." Tsunade replied tiredly.

"So how you doing?" Jiraiya asked, running his hand through his hair. He wanted to forgive Tsunade, but she had betrayed him, hurt him so deeply. How could he forgive her for what she did?

"Better I guess, at least Shizune is talking to me." Tsunade sighed. "And the hospital food has gotten better since we were gone. I could go for a nice bottle of sake though."

"You and me both." Jiraiya sighed. He hated seeing the woman like this, so defeated and broken when she was probably the strongest woman that he had ever know. As much as he was angry at her, as much as he hated her, he still loved her. If he was honest with himself, he never stopped and probably never would. He may have been seen as a womanizer, but in all honesty he felt as if she was his soulmate. He may have pretended that he was with other women who was actually his contacts, but he never actually slept with another woman. Yes he spied on women for his books, but he never really laid down with one.

"Jiraiya, I don't blame you for hating me. I hate myself for giving up Minato and the kid." Tsunade sighed, "I was just so scared, I didn't know how to take care of a kid and with everything that was going on...I thought Minato would have been better off. And when I found out about Naru, I was too lost in my alcohol and mourning to even bother coming back."

"I don't hate you. I may be upset with you, but I don't hate you. I could have taken the kid with me, but I didn't want to be burdened down with a kid that reminded me so much of Minato. I may not have known he was my son, but I still loved him like one and treated him as one. It hurt so much looking at the kid that I couldn't deal with it. I was too afraid I would do something to her in a fit of rage to take her with me. I was afraid she would slow me down or be attacked by our enemies in an effort to hurt me or Konoha if they learned the truth. Hell, there are so many excuses I could come up with, but the fact is I abandoned her just as you abandoned Minato. We both fucked up big time, and it's only right we are paying for it." Jiraiya said shocking Tsunade a little. He sounded so serious, too serious for the goofball that she knew, but she figured that with everything going one maybe he was finally growing up to be the man she was sure he could be.

"I wish I could go back and just change everything." Tsunade sighed after several moments of uncomfortable silence. "I made so many stupid mistakes and made so many people suffer for them."

"We've all made mistakes, and even if we are suffering for them a little girl suffered the most because of them." Jiraiya replied sadly. "It's her that we have to make things up to."

"I want to Jiraiya, but how do we find her if we can't even leave the village?" Tsunade asked softly.

"We may not be able to leave, but I do still have my contacts who are keeping an eye out for her and the toads are acting as a go between. Plus the old man is keeping several teams out, rotating them, and having them search every village in fire country." Jiraiya explained. "We'll find her."

"What if she isn't here any longer?" Tsunade asked wearily.

"She is, do you honestly thing a kid can get past the border?" Jiraiya asked before feeling a cold shiver down his spine. He really hoped that it wasn't a bad sign.

"Your right, we just have to keep hoping that she'll be found." Tsunade agreed, though her eyes didn't hold very much hope in them.

* * *

"How is she?" Violet asked, her long violet hair framing her face, worry in her eyes as she brought tea to the table as Ryu and Rose dropped almost bonelessly across from one another.

"Will she be okay?" Iris asked, her short blonde hair bouncing a little as she hurried to the table. As all of the women at the Lotus, they had come to love the young Rune as a sister and one of them and was worried about her after Rose and Ryu took them to Rune's room there instead of at the shop since it was better lit and quieter. They were hoping she would be more comfortable there where she could check on Cherry upon waking up. Rose had already hung up a sign apologizing that the Lotus would not be open for business tonight.

"Thank you sweetie." Rose said giving the girls a sad smile as she accepted the tea. "She will be okay, she was in shock but she's out of it and sleeping peacefully now."

"What happened?" Violet asked, though they had an idea. Rock had come back with news of someone burning down Darius's home and killing him and his two personal guards. At first they shook it off, thankful that it happened though, until Ryu and Rose showed up with an upset girl in their arms.

"She killed that bastard and his guards." Ryu sighed causing the girls to gasp, though they already had a feeling that it was the girl who did it. Rune was close to Cherry, closer than any of the others there, and it wasn't a surprise that she would want to pay the bastard who hurt the redhead back. Still none of them thought she would really do something like this, though all of them wanted to. They knew that it would bring a lot more trouble down on all of them though as well as a lot of other people as well as there were a lot of people the mayor knew wanted his son dead. The mayor would go after every single one of them to.

"She's upset that she actually killed someone, but it was their screams...She burned them alive with a fire jutsu and their screams are getting to her. She'll be okay, but I doubt she will have a good nights sleep for awhile without some medicine to keep the dreams away." Rose sighed sadly.

"Not that she was sleeping very well to begin with." Ryu added. "How's Cherry doing?"

"She doesn't know about Rune, but she came down and ate earlier. She's okay. Sore, but okay." Violet said, rubbing her eyes. "She's a fighter, you know that. Nothing keeps her down for long."

"As much as I know this is going to cause problems, I'm not sad to see that bastard dead." Iris said, "He deserved it after what he did to Cherry."

"Please ask Ivy and Orchid to please keep an eye on both Rune and Cherry." Rose said, "We're going to head into town and see what's happening. There could be trouble brewing and it will be best if we know in advance so we can try and keep Rune and Cherry out of it."

"Mistress, you have company." Rock said as he came into the common room from the foyer.

"Rock, please, just tell them that we're closed and I'm busy." Rose sighed.

"I'm afraid I must insist on a meeting." A man said as he pushed his way into the room followed by a woman and man both dressed as the fire daimyo's samurai. Taking a closer look at the man made Rose gasp as she recognized the man as the son of the daimyo.

"Of course my lord." Rose said as she jumped from her seat before bowing to the man with her fist over her heart.

"No need for formalities, my lady." The man said with a grin, "I am Akira and this is Amelia and Natsu, my personal guards. I am here on business from the fire daimyo, and it looks as if I may also have been dumped into the middle of a murder investigation."

"M-Murder investigation?" Rose asked, trying to feign ignorance though the shock was clearly on her face along with worry.

"Please do not feign ignorance on these matters my lady, for I am no fool. I know that the bastard wasn't innocent, but I need answers if I am to complete my own investigation into the corruption of this town's mayor. After the events in Konoha, we are taking all reports of possible corruption in our towns and villages very seriously which is why I am personally here." Akira said, "While I can't promise that the murderer will go unpunished, if you cooperate with me I promise that I will do my best to help them and see that justice is done here."

"Rose, I think we should tell him everything. I know his father and I can tell you Akira is a good man. He can help us." Ryu said joining Rose and putting his arm around her.

"I remember you, Ryu Haruno, you were one of my dad's friends. We always stopped to visit you when we came to Konoha. I see you traded up, that pink haired bitch was a nightmare." Akira said with a soft grin.

"Let's just say I didn't have a choice." Ryu sighed.

"And yet you send that bitch money every month." Rose said making Ryu snort in disgust.

"You know why I do." Ryu snarked back.

"I did it." A weak voice said from the stairway heading to the second floor. Everyone turned to look at Cherry standing a little unsteadily there, both eyes open since the swelling went down. Still, her face was a large splotch of purple as all of the bruises made it look like one large one. "I killed him."

"Cherry!" Rose gasped.

"What happened to you, my lady?" Akira asked as he went over to kneel before the redhead and took her hands to look up into her eyes gently.

"I'm no lady." Cherry snorted, though a sad tone could be heard in her voice.

"That's funny, I see a very beautiful young woman before me." Akira said, his face full of honesty.

"She's lying about killing him, sir." Amelia said from behind him, though she was giving Cherry a kind look.

"Darius did this to you, didn't he?" Akira asked softly. "I heard some rumors of him doing things like this since I arrived a couple days ago. I was a little surprised to find him dead this morning when I went to confront him over this with his father demanding this place be shut down and all of you arrested."

"You can't do that, it was my fault!" Cherry cried out, choking back sobs as she began crying. "Please, punish me, please...No one else has to suffer."

"Your right, no one else has to suffer." Akira said as he kissed the back of Cherry's hand before standing back up to face his two samurai. "Natsu, inform the others that I want them to arrest the mayor. As for the murder of Darius, it was an act of self defense and the names involved are to be kept secret to protect the victim's privacy."

"Yes Sir!" Natsu said as he bowed, fisting his hand over his heart before turning to head out of the Lotus.

"Amelia, will you please see what you can do to help the lady here?" Akira said motioning to Cherry.

"Of course my lord." Amelia said as she moved over to bow to the young redhead. "I am an experienced medical nin and can help relieve some of the pain your injuries seem to be causing you. If you will please lead me to a place I can check over your injuries in private."

"O-Of course..." Cherry said, a little stunned at what just happened. Was everything really going to be okay? Was she finally free of that bastard and no one was going to have to suffer for it? As she kept asking herself those questions as she led the strange woman upstairs to her room.

"Can you please take off your clothes?" Amelia asked shocking the redhead as she pulled off her helmet and shook her hair free. Her face, it was almost like looking at Rune as it looked so much like the girl that it was eerie. After a few moments she finally broke out of her shock and started peeling off her clothes.

"You now, I usually charge for this?" Cherry said in an attempt at teasing the woman.

"As beautiful as you are, I bet you earn a lot." Amelia said with a truthful and kind smile.

"I'm not beautiful." Cherry said turning her head as Amelia came up to her. At first she thought the woman was feeling her up as she began caressing her, her hands going over the bruises. It took a few seconds for Cherry to realize there wasn't any pain from it, it actually felt warm and everywhere the woman's hands traveled left her feeling good as it seemed to draw out the soreness in her body.

"Believe me, you are." Amelia said softly, "You don't have any medic nins here, do you?"

"We have a few who know some ninjutsu, a little medical jutsu, but nothing for this much." Cherry sighed, almost in bliss as the constant throbbing pain was leaving her.

"You had a few cracked ribs, which I'm sending chakra to in order to speed up the healing process, but you shouldn't do anything stressful for a couple days until they're fully healed. Most of your bruising will be gone within a few hours." Amelia said as she stepped back to admire her work, making her look like she was looking Cherry's naked form over making the redhead blush.

"Relax sweetie, I don't swing that way. Though if I did, I admit you would be very tempting." Amelia said. "It looks like I got everything, just take it easy for now though."

"Why do you keep acting like I'm pretty, I'm just some common whore." Cherry sighed as her eyes began watering again.

"Is that what that bastard told you?" Amelia asked, a growl entering her voice.

"Y-yeah, he said no one would ever really want me." Cherry sighed, "He said I'll spend the rest of my days here until I grow too old and then I'll end up on the street."

"Listen to be." Amelia said as she picked up a robe and draped it over the redhead's shoulders. "You aren't ugly and I can tell you right now I know someone who is interested in you."

"Wha...who?" Cherry asked confused as Amelia steered her to the bed and sat her down on it while Amelia sat next to her.

"Akira is, I could see the look in his eyes. Your the first girl whose really caught his attention." Amelia said truthfully.

"But I'm just a whore..." Cherry repeated. Normally she never thought like this, she knew better, but she couldn't help it after everything Darius told her. They may have been lies, but she still couldn't get them out of her mind.

"So, my mom was to. She dumped me with the fire daimyo after she had me. My dad was some asshole from Konoha who on his first mission decided to lose his virginity with my mom who worked at a brothel that was part of his bastard sensei's so called spy network." Amelia said in disgust. "I wasn't wanted by either of them, but the daimyo took me in and raised me. I've become the leader of the twelve guardians and I was just the bastard child of a whore. Your past doesn't make it, it's what's in your heart and the choices that you make that shape you. And working in a brothel is just as legitimate as any other job. In fact, I think you have to be very strong to do what you do."

"What? How could being a whore make me strong?" Cherry asked in surprise.

"Because sweetie, I saw you the other night when we first came into town. I'll be honest with you, there's another reason that we are in town and I came here to check into it. I saw the shy guy, he was really depressed and it looked as if he didn't feel like he was worth anything. I saw the way you took time to talk to him and make him feel better about himself. I saw the way you cared about him as a person and not just another client. That has to be hard to do, to actually care about the people that come through here and that makes you strong." Amelia said.

"You really mean that, don't you?" Cherry asked softly.

"I do sweetie." Amelia said as she leaned over and kissed Cherry's cheek softly.

"What was that other business that you are here for?" Cherry asked changing the subject as she blushed from the contact.

"We're searching for someone who was hurt badly by her home. We don't want to force her back home, but we do want to make sure that she is okay." Amelia said, "And it looks like she is."

"Why do I get the feeling that you don't like this person very much?" Cherry asked.

"It's not that I don't hate the person, despite the fact that I spent years doing so. I just can't hate her after seeing what her childhood was like and all the pain she's been through." Amelia sighed, "I was more jealous of her though than hated her I guess. Her father...our father acknowledged her while denying me. I never even got to meet him before he died."

"I'm so sorry." Cherry said taking Amelia's hand.

"Don't be, it isn't your fault. As much as I want to blame her for it, I can't. She's my sister, well half sister, and as much as a part of me doesn't know to be angry or jealous...I love her. I'm glad to see that she's happy and I don't want to mess with that by telling her this, so I expect you to keep quiet about it." Amelia said, "I saw the way you looked at me so I know you put two and two together. This is the only reason I told you about her, I don't want to cause her any more problems when she finally has people she can call family."

"But your her family." Cherry said softly.

"No, I share a father with her, I don't know her. She has her place here and I have mine by my lord's side. You are more family to her than I am." Amelia said, her voice cracking a bit. "We will be here a few more days while we take care of the mess with the mayor and his pathetic son. After that, we will be moving on."

"At least talk to her a little." Cherry said, hoping that it may change the woman's mind about revealing herself to who the redhead was sure the woman was talking about.

"Don't worry, I will. My lord plans to offer her something that can possibly help her if she is ever in need. And by the way, she has a good friend in you. Thank you for trying to protect her." Amelia said as she got up and straightened her clothes.

"She protected me first." Cherry sighed.

"I'll see you again later. Make sure to say hi to Akira later also when we come back." Amelia said winking at Cherry before ducking out the door leaving a lightly confused, yet relieved redhead behind.


	10. Act I Part X Love?

**Act I, Part X**

**Love?**

This week has not gone very good. Beside being very busy, the heat has been killer and we do not have air conditioning. It was hard to even write, much less think with the heat as one small fan just did not help at all with making it cooler. In fact, I kind of think it just made it worse. Anyways, because of this, this chapter isn't the best and isn't quite as long as normal, but it is the best I could do and meet my deadline which I am trying my best to stick to being one chapter a week which is usually posted sometime on the weekends.

Also, thanks Guest for your review and I'm glad that you liked the plot twist.

* * *

Rune Age 13...

It had been a couple weeks now since the fire daimyo's son and his entourage rolled into town and left, leaving many changes that swept through the town making it a better place for everyone that made it their home. New laws were put into place to protect places such as the Lotus and it's workers shocking many, though no one really challenged it. One of the biggest changes though was leaving a new mayor in charge that was handpicked by Akira himself to enforce the changes with a police force that was picked clean of corruption by the new mayor, Rose herself. The first ever female mayor of Tanzuka Town.

As the days went by though, Cherry couldn't help but count the days until Rune's birthday as it would mark the return of the fire prince as well as Cherry's new friend in Amelia. Of course the redhead kept her promise to not tell Rune about her older half sister despite her reservations, but Cherry found it hard at times to keep quiet. She was more than thankful to the musician for everything the girl did for Cherry by getting rid of that bastard Darius and his goons despite the state it left the girl in.

Taking a sigh as Cherry stopped to look up in the mirror and put down her brush as she thought about the younger girl. She was doing much better now though Cherry knew that when left to dwell on it Rune would get upset at the high pitched, awful cries of the dying man as he was burned alive. Nothing could have even compared to that as not even beating someone to death would rip such cries from a person as experiencing the flesh melting from your body as flames slowly consumed your body. Just the thought of that creeped Cherry out, sending shivers through her body.

Pushing away from her vanity Cherry made her way from her room and down to the common room, smiling softly as she heard music wafting through the air letting the redhead know that her friend was there. As usual the music was beautiful, the harp giving off a beautiful melody which meant that Rune would also be singing as well. The girl's voice could be so haunting at times, drawing you in and making you feel what she was feeling. She could even make you feel what she wanted you to feel as more than once she had calmed down the anger of several men on the verge of starting a fight making it so the boys didn't have to intervene.

Taking a deep breath before pushing through the curtains that separated the common room and the stairs, Cherry pushed her way through intending to make it through her first night back to work without any problems. As she entered the room she looked over to find Rune perched on top of her stool strumming her harp. As they locked eyes they smiled at each other knowing that they were there for each other and that the night would be okay.

* * *

Hiruzen rubbed his temples as he looked over the paperwork that just came in. He hated when any of the people in his village was hurt, even though he could admit that many of them deserved it at times. It still hurt his aged heart when any of the people he was sworn to protect was hurt in any way...even when they didn't deserve his sympathy. That was part of the reason everything went to hell recently, but he refused to let his sympathy get in the way of what needed to be done any longer. He may feel sorry for them and hate that they get hurt, but he would do what needed to be done including killing those he once held dearest to his heart. His old teammates were now dead and though a part of him missed them dearly, they stopped being the people he knew long ago when they demanded that little Naru be killed.

Taking a deep sigh he pulled the next folder onto the open space of his desk and flipped it open over looking the contents. Spreading out the pictures of a recent murder, he studied the body in the pictures with sadness while also a part of his mind admitting that though no one deserved this, though if anyone did it was this woman. She was the mother of the two Haruno girls though in his opinion she didn't deserve the title. He knew the way the woman treated the two girls, though there was nothing he could do about it as both girls refused to talk about it and there was no evidence of any crimes that she could be convicted of. At least before now as both the fire daimyo and himself put laws in place that protected children better, both civilian and shinobi.

Of course that no longer mattered since the pink haired woman was dead after somehow managing to escape. The matter of her escape was still being looked into, but it looked like one of the ANBU guards spent some time in her cell and after their activities the woman actually managed to knock the man out and take his uniform and keys. The idiot who couldn't keep his pants on was being held by Ibiki with the least of his worries being at least stripped of his rank and made a Chunin or Genin if he wasn't completely kicked from the shinobi ranks all together.

She was found in an alley behind some of the seedier bars, her clothing ripped and evidence that she pissed off the wrong person. Of course Hiruzen knew the woman also had a habit of doing that as she often got close to men, sleeping with them to steal their wallets or squeeze money out of them. She had tried to do it on Minato as well as so many others, many of them claiming he was the father of their children as soon as he became Hokage. He was famous, the youngest Hokage ever from any village, and many of the less scrupulous women sought to use him for his position.

Flipping though the paperwork and reports the folder contained it appeared that there was a large amount of alcohol in the woman's body at the time of death as well as recreational drugs. The drugs turned out to be something that caused a strong high as well as occasionally causing hallucinations. There were also bruises that not only pointed to being severely beaten, but also pointed to being restrained. It couldn't be confirmed that she was raped for sure as she was dead and couldn't confirm it, but there was a high probability that she was.

The problem was, it couldn't really be proved as the woman was known to sleep around freely to pressure her partners to give her money. Sometimes as blackmail to keep the men's wives or girlfriends from finding out. Other times because it would look bad on the men as they were members of prestigious clans such as the Hyuuga clans and the tryst would cause a scandal heaping a lot of negative publicity on the clan and putting the man's position in question. There were plenty of rumors going around, the woman had even been overheard several times gloating over it, but again there was nothing that really could be done as there were no witnesses willing to come forward. Sadly though, it seemed the woman went after the wrong person this time.

Looking at the next page on the report Hiruzen realized that there was a small problem that would be caused from this fallout. Sakura was a genin and in the eyes of the community an adult due to her status. Her sister was not a genin and was a civilian and was only sixteen years old. She was technically old enough to take care of herself if she had the money or a way to provide for herself, Yet she could be considered a minor as well and some civilian members could demand that she be placed in an orphanage and since there was no will left behind those idiots could also try and maneuver and get what little money and property the Haruno woman left behind. Good thing he regained all power.

He decided that he would admit that she should have a guardian and what better guardian than the girl's own father? Hiruzen knew the man and knew that he wanted to be a part of the girl's life all along if it wasn't for the mother. She drove him away and got him to agree to send money back every month to take care of the eldest daughter, though the mother was never happy with the amount sent. It was more than enough to provide for them if the woman didn't throw a lot of it away on clothes and drinking while letting very little go to the daughters.

"Bear." Hiruzen called, waiting a few moments as a darkly dressed man with a porcelain mask of a bear melted out of the shadows to bow, fist over his heart to the Hokage. "I need you to go pick up the elder Haruno girl and bring her here."

"Right away my lord." Bear said before he stepped back melting into the shadows once more. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lip, despite his age he still found that cool seeing someone melt from and back into the shadows. It was time to put a family back together.

* * *

It took a few days to feel better, but Rune had to admit that despite everything that happened she was feeling a lot better. Of course she had to admit that despite knowing better, she had developed a bit of a fear for fire. Okay, a big fear as she grew nervous every time she even got near the small fire burning in the fire place. It was caused mainly because of watching that bastard burn to death, while she really didn't know if she cared a whole lot about said man's death. Yes she felt a little bad being the one to end someone's life, but they should have never hurt her precious person by what he did.

Looking over to Cherry who was helping finish cleaning the room as she was allowed to work the room and talk to the customers, she was still forbidden from taking anyone to her room. Rune had to admit that the girl looked amazing as usual, and a small part of herself momentarily wished that she looked a little more like the redhead. She hated that part of herself since she kept telling herself that she didn't give a damn if she looked good or not, but she couldn't help her feelings that wished otherwise.

Sealing her harp back into the low profile storage seal tattoo on her inner wrist on her left hand, Rune got up and walked over to Cherry picking up some of the dirty dishes from the tables as the redhead sent her a thankful smile.

"You were great tonight, Rune!" Cherry said with a soft smile that Rune returned.

"Thanks, Cherry. I'm glad your feeling better." Rune said as she was passing Cherry to carry her load of dishes to the kitchen. As she was passing the redhead, Cherry leaned out and kissed Rune's cheek with a playful look.

"After we're done, meet me in my room. Okay?" Cherry said softly, winking at Rune making the young girl to swallow nervously. She wasn't sure why, she was actually a little confused as to why she was so nervous. Cherry was her friend and would never hurt her.

'You are so naive.' Lina said, her voice full of mirth. The demoness was glad that her charge...or vessel...could still be so naive after everything that had happened to her throughout her short lifetime. She was uncertain if she should say anything about what she suspected was going to happen or let things take their course. With a deep mental sigh, the demoness decided to let things go where they were since she knew Cherry would never hurt the girl. And this could even help Rune some, hopefully anyways if the girl didn't react badly to it.

"What do you mean?" Rune asked, worried when it took several moments for the demoness to reply.

'Do you trust your friend?' Lina asked, her voice a little serious which was a stark contrast to her attitude just a few moments earlier.

"Of course I do!" Rune said confidently as she dumped the dishes in the sink to be washed.

'Then remember that no matter what happens. She cares for you and won't hurt you.' Lina sighed as Rune made her way back through the common room and up towards Cherry's room. She believed that the redhead just needed to be reassured that they were still best friends, maybe even kiss a little. Cherry had been through a lot recently and Rune could tell the redhead was still shaken, hell she was still shaken up a bit herself.

Rune was about to ask what Lina meant by that as she opened Cherry's door to only widen her eyes in shock. Cherry was sitting on the bed, only wearing her sheer robe that was tied close, though not tightly as it was showing a large amount of cleavage making Rune swallow nervously for some reason.

"Hey Rune." Cherry said as she slowly stood up and sashayed to the door and gently shut it as Rune stared at her in shock. It wasn't that she never saw Cherry naked before, but the way the redhead was acting...it just made her nervous, yet excited at the same time. Rune allowed herself to be led over to the bed and sat down on the edge while Cherry sat next to her, keeping a hold on her hand as their fingers intertwined. "You know that I love you as a friend, right?"

"Of course I do, I love you to...like a friend." Rune replied, adding the last bit after a few moments. A shy look coming over her face as Cherry tilted her chin up to kiss her on the lips.

"Sometimes friends share things, do things together. It can be just to relieve stress or when one of them are feeling lonely." Cherry said as she kissed Rune again, her hands beginning to roam over Rune's body a lot more than normal when they made out.

"Th-things?" Rune gasped, her breath deepening as she grew more excited, yet nervous with every moment. With every caress of her body came fear mixed with something else that made her want the redhead to never stop.

"Things that can make both of us feel so good." Cherry said as Rune let out a soft moan as her only response. "Will you let me show you? Let me make you feel good? Show you that it doesn't have to hurt..."

"I...I trust you." Rune moaned as she found herself being pushed back into the bed. A part of her was becoming more and more scared, though she didn't want this to stop. All fears were quickly wiped away as Cherry climbed on top of her and leaned down to capture her lips again.

* * *

Rune slowly opened her eyes, a little fear filling her as she felt something, or someone pressed up against her back and an arm wrapped around her holding her to them. Turning her head a little she saw a shock of red realizing that she was in Cherry's arms as the two spooned under the covers. A little light spilling through the curtained window and across the bed.

Her eyes flashed open as memories of what happened came flooding back. She never knew that it was possible for two girls to really be together like that, but what shocked her even more was how good it felt. There was no pain like there was when those men attacked her, but maybe that could be because they were men and Cherry was a girl.

'Sorry to burst your bubble kit, but if you were willing and they weren't trying to hurt you, being with a man can be just as good if not better.' Lina said making Rune sigh. She didn't really think much of it when things started as she was feeling things she never felt before and it was like she was drunk in a way. She wanted, needed to feel the things Cherry was doing, but now that it was over she was wondering if they should have done it. Was it even okay to have done that?

'Kit, don't beat yourself up over it. It was okay to do it, more than okay actually. It would even be okay to do it again as many times as you want, but you need to be careful if you do it with men. Cherry can show you some techniques to prevent pregnancy I'm sure if you ask though.' Lina explained, 'And don't worry, when I realized you were in good hands I went to sleep so I wouldn't be spying on a private moment with you two.'

"Thank you Lina." Rune sighed, though a small part of her was still worried about what happened between Cherry and her. Would it change their relationship at all? In a way Rune wanted it to, she was beginning to think that they were more than friends. That they were maybe in love even if they were both women.

'Kit, remember that she said that you both were friends. Don't let yourself get attached in that way.' Lina said, urging Rune not to let herself get that close to Cherry while cursing herself for not convincing Rune to not go to Cherry last night.

"Don't worry Lina, I don't love Cherry like that. We're just friends...What was it she called it last night? Friends with benefits?" Rune asked softly.

'Please just be careful, Rune.' Lina urged.

"I will." Rune said as she snuggled back into he sleeping redhead's arms.

* * *

"Are you sure about this Sir?" Amelia asked as she rode in the carriage with her lord and the man she considered a half brother.

"I'm sure, Amelia." Akira said as he played with a ring in his hand as they rode back toward Tanzuka Town with his guards outside on horses while Amelia rode inside with him. "Though it took a lot of convincing with my mom."

"I definitely never saw her like that, but I'm glad she gave you her blessing though I have a feeling you would do this even without her blessing." Amelia sighed. She knew that Akira had spent a lot of time with Cherry while they were there and she knew he grew very attached to the redhead, but she was shocked when he announced to his mother that he was planning on asking her to marry him.

A small smirk grew on Amelia's face as she mentally counted her winnings. Of course neither of Akira's parents were exactly okay with the betting pool going around the last couple years on whether Akira was gay or not, but they both betted aside Amelia that he was not gay while everyone slowly betted that he was and those who didn't at first slowly changed their bets. The three of them won a lot of money from that.

"It was kind of funny, though it was even funnier when my parents and you won the betting pool." Akira said with a smirk.

"Y-You knew?" Amelia choked out.

"Oh sister of mine, of course I knew. I'm not oblivious. I just never felt this way for anyone before...before meeting her." Akira said wistfully.

"Well I'm glad you finally found someone. I just hope that it works out for you." Amelia said, truly meaning it. She would love to see her brother settle down with someone like Cherry and be happy.


	11. Act I Part XI Birthday

**Act I, Part XI**

**Birthday**

* * *

I know I said I would have a bigger update this week, but I've had some unexpected things popup and I won't be able to work on this tomorrow so I'm posting what I have finished so far. There's only a few more chapters though until book two which brings the question of should I continue it here or make it as another story?

To Devin wolf, there really isn't too much Fairy Tail stuff yet besides Gray, but I guess I should add one anyways. So, this story will have elements of Fairy Tale, but nothing big besides Gray replacing Naru on team 7. As for the spells, the Mirror Clone is a spell that I made up and the fireball Rune used to kill Darius is a jutsu that Ryu taught her to protect herself. I am planning to use mostly spells that I made up and from the Slayers universe. I am looking into a few skills and spells from Nanoha that 00phantom suggested. I am glad that you like the story so far and in the end the story will match up more with the description, though I suck at writing story summaries. Act II will be about Rune's journey to learn new things as well as coming to terms with her past and heritage. Act III will actually be where Rune returns to Konoha with her Genin team after she joins one in the end of Act II for the Genin exams where she will show the people there that she is much more than they gave her credit for.

Rune Age 14...

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sakura asked as she sat on her sister's bed watching the older girl pack her belongings. Neither of the two really had all that much as their mother never really bought them anything very often with the only real birthday gifts they ever received were from friends.

"Sakura, I won't go to an orphanage and if I tried to stay with you the idiots on the council will throw a fit and cause you all kinds of trouble." Lillith sighed as she turned to face her younger sister. "Besides, it's about time my dad did something...its the least the bastard could do after so many years of neglect."

"Maybe you should at least give him a chance..." Sakura sighed running her fingers through her hair. She had a feeling that there was a little more to the man leaving than what their mother claimed. The man was a successful merchant in Tanzuka Town unlike Sakura's father. They knew he was a piece of shit as he pretended to be more than he was as he was drummed out of the ninja corps for his disgraceful behavior. He even treated Sakura and Lillith like filth the few times they were near him, even worse than the way that their mother treated them. Hell, the two probably were meant for each other using others for their own gain.

"I'd rather mom was still alive." Lillith said as she finished packing what little she had in a single suitcase that the Hokage had provided her. The comment made Sakura gasp in shock as they hated their mother and both refused to even go to the woman's funeral. "At least I could be with the monster I knew rather than the one I didn't."

"Okay...I think I can understand that sis, but...maybe he won't be anything like mom or my dad." Sakura said hopefully.

"There's nothing to be done about it now." Lillith sighed as she sat next to Sakura and hugged the younger girl tightly. "I love you Sakura, and I'm proud of how you are doing."

"I love you to sis, I'll miss you so much." Sakura said as her eyes began misting as the two hugged knowing that they wouldn't see each other again for awhile.

"I'll write you every chance I get, Sakura." Lillith said with a bright smile for Sakura while brushing the tears that began to spill. "Even if we are in different towns, we will always be there for each other. We are sisters, and nothing will ever change that."

"Yeah, your right." Lillith said as she pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and gave it to Sakura who opened it. The younger girl's eyes widened as she realized what it was.

"This is the deed to the house." Sakura gasped.

"Sell it. I don't want this house, too many bad memories." Lillith said. "Too much pain for both of us here."

"I guess...only good memories I have is with you." Sakura sighed as she agreed with her sister.

"Come on, you can walk me to the Hokage's office." Lillith said as she got up and went to pick up her suitcase only to be stopped by Sakura getting it.

"I'll carry it there." Sakura said with a sad smile as the two walked from the room leaving their shared pain filled past behind them.

* * *

Despite becoming Cherry's lover, or as the redhead liked to call it, friends with benefits, Rune couldn't help sighing in depression as she put another book on the shelf as she checked them in from the latest shipment arriving. The store was closed for the day which at first Rune thought was because Ryu was going to spend the day with her as it was her first birthday that she didn't have to hide in fear from the mobs that would hunt her just in order to hurt her. Instead, her adopted father hardly spoke to her all morning as it came closer and closer to ten in the morning. It was as if he was upset with her about something.

"Rune, after your done with the stock, can you make a delivery for me?" Ryu asked as he dropped a small package on the counter. That was nothing new as the old man had often had her do the deliveries since she came there since it was much harder for him to carry some of the things when relying on his cane for support. Not that he always needed it, just when his leg acted up really bad, which she admitted was quite often now that she thought about it.

"Sure thing, papa. Where does it go?" Rune asked eyeing the package. It was a little smaller than most deliveries, but seeing as they usually were all different sizes it really didn't matter.

"It's for Cherry at the Lotus, sweetie. Make sure it gets there before noon even if you have to take a break from doing the stock. I have to go to another damned meeting...sometimes I wish I turned down Rose when she asked me to be her advisor." Ryu said, grumbling the last part. He stopped to kiss Rune's cheek before leaving toward the door, saying one last thing before leaving the shop. "I may be late Rune, I'll try to hurry though. Love you."

"Love you to, papa." Rune said as the door closed, ignoring the stinging in her eyes. Did he forget all about what today was? He closed the shop down though, but as she thought about it he had done it several other times when there was a large order like this one. "Maybe he'll remember and come home early."

Rubbing the tears out of her eyes, Rune set back to work determined to finish long before having to go see Cherry. That way she could maybe spend some time with the girl since Rune was sure the redhead hadn't forgotten her birthday since they had become so close. Sighing in bliss her memories drifted to the beautiful redhead who had wormed her way so deep into Rune's heart so quickly.

'Happy birthday, kit.' Lina said as she yawned inside Rune's mind making the girl giggle a little. Who knew the biggest, baddest of the nine was such a lazy body.

"Morning, sleepy head." Rune said as she smiled. At least Lina hadn't forgotten her birthday.

'I'd never forget your birthday sweetie, and I'm sure the old fart will remember too. It isn't really an excuse, but things have been hectic ever since Rose took office as she and the old man clean house so to speak.' Lina said, 'And for the record, I'm not lazy, just not really much I can do trapped inside of you.' The demoness's voice was so soft and tender, full of mirth that it took all the sting out of her words though Rune did frown a little. She wished there was something she could do for the fox demoness.

"I wish there was a way to give you more freedom." Rune sighed as she checked in a few more books and went to shelf them before getting started on the strings for the different instruments that used them such as harps.

'Well...there is a way to give me minor freedom as a fox outside of the seal when you summon me.' Lina said hesitantly as she was still unsure she wanted Rune to do it as it meant having to remove two more seals, and the first seal she didn't really want the young girl playing with as it was the most dangerous out of all of them.

"I feel a but in there somewhere." Rune sighed as she sorted through the different sizes and types of strings checking them off as she went along.

'I know you have taken all of your training more seriously after what happened to Cherry, but I still don't know if your ready to remove the next seal. Personally, I don't know if you will ever be ready.' Lina sighed.

"So you think I'm pathetic?" Rune asked, sadness lacing her voice as thoughts of the demoness believing her to be not worth the next step flitted through her mind.

'Don't ever think that kit. I love you and I believe in you, I think you are probably the best host that I ever had. The next seal level though is extremely dangerous as it floods your body with a mixture of demonic energies including corrosive chakra and youkai that can kill you if you don't control it enough. It also heightens all of your negative emotions and can make you go berserk. It covers your body in something referred to as a demonic cloak...yours will take on the shape of a fox.' Lina explained before saying the next part softly, surprisingly meaning every word. 'I love you and don't want to see you get hurt trying to do too much. And this...this could be too much if something sets you off.'

"I think I understand, if I'm using this power and I have one of my flashbacks it could make me lose control." Rune said, a little fear filling her as she thought about the consequences could be. If she was around people she cared about and this...cloak, if it was corrosive like that she could end up killing someone she cared deeply for.

'And that's why I'm worried about you using it. I don't think you are weak or pathetic, but you are still recovering from everything that has happened to you. I know you don't have many flashbacks anymore, all of the people around you help keep them at bay, but you still do have minor ones and anxiety attacks. And your new found fear of fire...it could really end up being bad without you meaning to.' Lina sighed.

"Okay, so for now we leave well enough alone I guess." Rune sighed as she finished the strings. The last thing were a few instruments that children of nobles ordered and would be by to pick them up sometime in the next few days if she wasn't sent to deliver them.

'Let's get the package delivered to Cherry, maybe Ryu will come back early so it might be best to get back quickly.' Lina suggested which after a few moments Rune had to agree. Maybe Ryu didn't really forget and he would hurry back to spend the afternoon together.

"Okay, let's go!" Rune said, her mood lifted highly as she picked up the package that needed to be delivered to Cherry.

* * *

"Something's wrong." Rune said softly as she walked into the common room of the Lotus. There was no one around there and the room just felt wrong as the unnatural seeming darkness permeated every inch. It seemed deeper than normal, much darker than she had ever seen this room before.

'There's people around, I can sense them even inside of you.' Lina warned, 'Be careful.'

"SURPRISE!" Voices yelled from all around as a bright flash of light momentarily blinded Rune. After her vision cleared all of her friends including her papa Ryu and Rose were all around with brightly colored streamers hanging from the ceiling and a large cake on the center table with candles burning in it.

"I-I don't understand." Rune said, her eyes stinging as she began realizing that her papa didn't forget. She was so happy that so many people that she cared for and loved were surrounding her, apparently there to celebrate her birthday.

"There's nothing to understand, dear." Rose said hurrying forward to hug the shocked girl tightly. "All of us are here to celebrate your special day."

"We've been planning this ever since we found out about your birthday sweetie." Ryu said as he joined in on the hug.

"What about the package?" Rune asked as her head spun a little.

"Your birthday present from me." Cherry giggled as she joined the group as all of the women and few men surrounded her wishing her a happy birthday.

My present?" Rune asked as Cherry took the package and opened it to show another brightly wrapped package inside that Cherry sat down on another table piled full of presents. There was so many of them that it made Rune's head spin just looking at the large pile.

It wasn't until late in the evening that Rune could actually rest as the part died down. She was sitting alone at a booth in the corner as most of the people had left or had to go do things. Even Cherry had to go as Akira, the daimyo's son wanted to talk to her alone. He was one of the biggest surprises though as he came all the way here to give her a very expensive looking lute as well as a ring making her as a member of his newly formed Free Bards guild which coupled with her papers gave her Sanin traveling rights to any country allied with the Land of Fire. Even his personal guard brought her a gift which was an old book filled with many songs that Rune had never heard of. Ryu had told her that it was worth thousands.

From Ryu, she got to keep all of the instruments that he let her practice with as well as several new outfits including a nice formal dress. Honestly she wasn't sure when she would wear it as she wasn't really into that sort of thing, but she had to admit it was beautiful. And to go along with it was several sets of jewelry from Rose and a makeup kit.

Cherry's gift was a little shocking as Rune had believed that she had lost the chance to buy that set that seemed to draw Rune to it. Cherry had the gems reset since the original set was mostly unusable into a beautiful golden choker, bracelets with the gems set on the inside where her wrists are, and a golden hoop belt. All in all they were very beautiful and Rune was wearing them at the moment. They felt so light against her while at the same time she could feel a strange hum coming from them. Strangely when asked Lina didn't have much to say, in fact she hadn't really say anything since Rune put them on.

"Hey Rune." Cherry said as she came in to sit across from Rune, a slight blush tinting her cheeks as she toyed with a new ring around her finger.

"Hi Cherry." Rune said with a soft smile, her exhaustion showing h=on her face. "Wow, I never knew birthdays could make you so tired."

"Just wait until Christmas then." Cherry giggled while giving Rune a playful wink. A small amount of worry crept over Rune though as Cherry's expression grew more serious, yet the redhead seemed so happy and Rune was sure it had had nothing to do with her.

"What's wrong?" Rune asked softly as she reached over to squeeze Cherry's hand.

"You know I love you, your my best friend, right?" Cherry asked softly, almost sounding guilty.

"Well...Akira asked me to marry him and move back to the capital with him." Cherry said softly, so quietly Rune almost didn't hear it. She did though and it felt as if her heart was beginning to shatter.

"And your going?" Rune asked, afraid of the answer.

"I told him yes, I...I really like him. I think I love him, I've never felt this way for anyone before. I feel as if we are soulmates." Cherry said dreamily before noticing the shocked expression on Rune's face. "If...If you don't want me to..."

"NO! I mean, no I do want you to go if he makes you happy. I know we're just friends and that one of us would move on sooner or later. I'll miss you though, but congratulations." Rune said while giving her brightest smile to her best friend. It just showed how happy that Cherry was that the redhead couldn't tell just how fake it was.

"Thank you, Rune. And just because I won't be staying here doesn't mean I won't come to visit. And I expect you to come visit me to." Cherry said.

"I will, I promise." Rune said as she leaned over to kiss the redhead one last time before rising from the table. "I have to go though, I'll come back later and get the rest of my presents, ok?"

"Ok, just please make sure you come by later since I want to spend as much time together as we can before I have to leave." Cherry said.

"I will, I...I'll see you later Cherry." Rune said before hurrying out of the lotus. She barely made it out of the building before tears began leaking from her eyes. She hurried a few blocks away before ducking in an alley and leaned against the wall before collapsing against it crying.

"She didn't mean to hurt you, neither of them did." A familiar voice said causing Rune to look up in time to see Akira's personal guard lower herself next to Rune to pull the smaller girl into an embrace.

"Why do you give a damned you bitch!" Rune sobbed as she struggled to pull away from the bigger, familiar looking woman.

"I keep asking myself that same question, Naru Uzumaki." Amelia sighed as she pulled the shocked girl against her and kissed the top of her head. "For so long I hated you, I hated you so damn much. Now that I got to know you, I know how foolish I've been and...I love you little sister."

"Wh-what the hell...what are you talking about?" Rune gasped in shock and denial, "I don't have any siblings. My only family is dead."

"We...shared a father, though I loathe to call the man such." Amelia sighed. "He...my mother worked at a brothel and he decided to lose his virginity while on a mission. Nine months later I came along and daddy dearest refused to acknowledge my existence."

"Your lying." Rune sniffed though she didn't have any fight left in her as she sagged in the older woman's arms.

"So you deny me to?" Amelia asked, sadness tinging her voice.

"Your just trying to get me to calm down and not cause a scene for your master." Rune spat out bitterly. This woman would lie to her and get her to care just to turn around and leave her.

"He's more like my brother and I love him like that. The same way I'm coming to love you little sister." Amelia said softly. "Would it be so bad to have a big sister?"

"I...I want it to be true..." Rune sighed as she closed her eyes. She didn't want Rune to leave her and she didn't want this woman to become her sister making the younger woman love her only for Amelia to leave her as well.

"I may not be around all of the time sweetie, but I will come by to visit you if you want me to. And I know your friend will come with me since we love you and only want you to be ok and happy." Amelia sighed kissing the top of Rune's head again while stroking the young girl's hair.

"I'd l-like that." Rune hiccupped as she rubbed the tears from her eyes.

"Come on sweetie, let's get you back to the shop and inside. We can talk more there." Amelia said helping Rune up. The two slowly made their way back to the shop where they found Ryu separating the special orders from the shipment.

"Would you girls like some tea?" Ryu asked kindly as Amelia nodded. They were going to head to the back when they heard a knock on the door which was weird since the closed sign was up and the few people who were considered family had keys to get in.

"Sorry, we're closed." Ryu said as he opened the door letting a Konoha ninja in followed by...Lillith Haruno.

"Congratulations, Mr. Haruno, it's a girl." The ninja said cheekily while the pink haired girl glared angrily at him as well as the occupants of the room.


	12. Act I Part XII Sisters

**Act I, Part XII  
Sisters**

* * *

Just one to two more chapters to go until I finish this Arc up, I hope everyone is enjoying it.

Since I had a couple reviews from Guest so I wanted to answer the questions here. Yep, Gray is a character from Fairy Tail and he has a bloodline limit that controls ice such as he does in Fairy Tail. As for Rune and Lillith, sorry they're more like sisters and won't become a couple though they will grow close to each other as sisters.

Anyways, since I've had several people say I should put warnings here of stuff I use (which I own nothing except my OCs). So here is a list of things I either borrowed names, likenesses, or even ideas and spells and skills from so far. There will be more skills later maybe such as from Nanaho. This is just a list of what has appeared so far:

The Lark and the Wren by Mercedes Lackey

The House of Night (Book Series) by Kristin and PC Cast

Slayers

Fairy Tail

and of course Naruto

* * *

Rune Age 14...

A month, a whole month had passed since things went to hell on what started out as the best birthday ever. First of all she lost her best friend and her very first love to the fire daimyo's son. She couldn't really stay mad at him though as unlike a lot of guys that Rune knew, he loved Cherry and cherished her. He was a good man and Rune knew he would take care of the redhead and make her happy.

Of course there was a bright side to breaking down after learning of the engagement as she found out she had an older sister. At first it was a little awkward as Amelia admitted to hating Rune until learning of the younger girl's past and meeting. Rune herself didn't exactly trust the girl at first either as a part of herself believed that Amelia was just trying to draw Rune's attention from her lord and Cherry until they left town. Rune was happy that she gave Amelia a chance as they hung out a lot just chatting and even doing things such as eating out, going to movies and shopping. Of course Amelia also decided to teach her swordsmanship, and with the mirror and shadow clones helping with the training, the weekends that Amelia spent with Rune was more than enough time to train in it. Thankfully the daimyo's palace wasn't so far from town as Rune had even visited there twice to see her sister and Cherry and the second time for the wedding. Rune had to admit that it was beautiful and Cherry made a gorgeous bride with Amelia and Rune as bridesmaids along with Rose.

Speaking of sisters, Rune also got a new sister, well adopted sister that night. Unlike Amelia though, Lillith was spiteful to both Ryu and Rune. At first it wasn't so bad, she seemed angry though not spiteful until she found out that Rune was her little sister. At first Rune believed the girl recognized her, but she didn't though the girl did admit the bard looked familiar. Lillith was pissed that she was stuck in Konoha with her mother while her father was here playing with Rune. At first Lillith had claimed that Rune was just using Ryu, bedding him even, just to get his money. That was put to a stop though when Rune confronted her about it which shut the older girl up, but Rune was sure she still suspected it from the looks given. Now Ryu had taken Lillith and moved into a big house with her and left Rune in the store's apartment saying that the he needed to spend some alone time with Lillith and spend time with both of them at the store during the day.

Spending less time with her papa mean a lot less training with him which hurt a lot more than she believed it could. It was making her feel that he was growing away from her and may even leave just as Cherry had. Ryu had insisted on Rune training, even if just a little at first in order to learn how to protect herself. After the incident with Darius Rune had actually begged for more lessons taking them more seriously so she would be better able to protect her precious people in the future. Now though they had been lucky to train two days a week in anything, jutsu much less music. She had thought about confronting Ryu about it, but she was afraid her papa would get upset and tell her that he didn't need her anymore now that he had his real daughter.

"Will you help me with this already you stupid airhead!" Lillith growled from the stairs as she struggled with an old document box. Rune cursed herself for getting distracted from dusting the shelves and groaned in annoyance as she moved to take the box from the older girl, annoyed that the pink haired bitch needed help with such a light box.

'Don't forget kit, she's a civilian and hasn't built up muscle like you have through training.' Lina reminded her host. Of course looking at Rune one could tell that she stayed in shape, but no one would be able to tell that she had a lot of muscle as being Lina's host made her muscle mass more dense instead of bulky so she kept her more feminine curves instead of the muscle mass some women gained with the amount of weight training Rune had done.

"I guess." Rune sighed mentally, then aloud said, "Where do you want this?"

"On the table, I want to look through them." Lillith demanded as she took several deep breaths after being relieved of her burden. Rune didn't need to ask what was going on as Ryu had told Lillith to go through the books and paperwork and get a feel for how things were done here.

"Aren't you almost done with this stuff? I thought papa only wanted you to go through the current stuff." Rune asked as Lillith sat down and opened the box. It wasn't as stuffed full of old receipt books like the others were. Instead it seemed to have a lot of old letters in it as well as separate receipts at first glance.

"Don't call him that!" Lillith snapped before pulling out a large handful and dumped them on the table. "And I'm going through the old stuff consolidating it and putting everything in order better. I swear I don't know how the hell the old man could still be in business as disorganized as he is."

"Yeah, well, he's well loved around here. A lot of people come here because they know he will give them a good price for good quality work." Rune shot back before huffing and storming away from the girl to finish cleaning the shop front. Today had been a slow day with just a few repairs needed that she personally already did instead of leaving them for her papa as she had learned how to do that first thing as taking care of her instruments was the very first lessons Ryu had given her.

Sometimes she really wanted to just wrap her hands gently around Lillith's throat and slowly squeeze more and more until the girl's head popped off. Of course that would only end up hurting Ryu and if there was anything she wanted to avoid, it was hurting her papa. Of course when she looked deep in the older girl's eyes, she could see a pain and loneliness that startled Rune enough to make her forget how annoying Lillith could be. That is, until Lillith opened her mouth again to make Rune's anger at the girl return.

'What's that noise?' Lina asked as Rune was finishing up with her cleaning and started to put away the cleaning supplies.

"Huh? What noise?" Rune asked as she blinked a few times. She was zoning out again she realized in annoyance at herself. She listened a few moments before she heard sniffing coming from where Lillith was working on going through the box of junk. Hurrying back as she worried about what happened she found the older girl's arm's folded on the table and head on them as she shook with sobs.

"Lillith? What's wrong?" Rune asked worried as she stood over the girl who shook with sobs. Lillith didn't even look up as a crumpled piece of paper was shoved in her face. Sighing Rune took the note and read it, realizing it was in Ryu's hand writing, or at least one side of it was.

_I am getting sick of not being able to see my daughter!_  
_Belle, I send you thousands a month to support my daughter._  
_I love her and have every right to be able to see her._  
_She has every right to know me and her new sister I adopted._  
_Look, I still care for you. Hell, I still love you._  
_Can't we please work something out?_

_-Ryu_

_Fuck you, you have no right to see her._  
_Your nothing but a crippled loser of a man._  
_And if you stop sending me money, then I guess_  
_I just won't have the money to take care of her._  
_And don't even think about trying something._  
_You know the council is on my side._  
_Danzo is on my side as is the elders._

_-Belle_

_PS Stop sending me letters wanting to see the little bitch!_  
_Only thing I expect to see from you is money!_

Rune's jaw dropped reading the letter as she realized just how bad the Haruno mother was. How? How could any mother act like that?

"I knew she was a bitch, but she always told me dad didn't want anything to do with me. Said he was a deadbeat who didn't send money." Lillith cried as Rune say next to her and pulled her into a hug while rubbing circles in her back. "All of these receipts in this box is money he sent to us...birthday...Christmas money he sent to me that she took. She hid it and lied to me!"

"Papa loves you very much, even before you came back here he talked a lot about you. He missed you so much." Rune sighed, hating to admit it to this girl who had been nothing but rude since coming here. She was beginning to see the reason behind that behavior though.

"Do you think he'll forgive me after being such a bitch?" Lillith asked as she pulled away. The vulnerable look in the older girl's eyes made Rune sigh yet again, wanting so much to use a certain Nara's catchphrase.

"Of course he will, your his real daughter after all." Rune said before she realized how that came out. She had to admit it was the way she had felt a little lately as why would the man want a damaged replacement when he could have his true flesh and blood daughter?

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Lillith asked as she grabbed Rune's wrist as she started to get up, managing to pull her back into her chair. With all of the stress and heartache lately, Rune couldn't help feel a shiver of fear as Lillith's tightened around Rune's wrist.

"P-Please let me go." Rune whimpered softly, Lillith barely hearing her.

"Listen to me, I can see how my dad treats you...He loves you. Your just as much his daughter as I am and that...that makes you my sister." Lillith admitted as she realized how stupid she had been. If only she had a more open mind when arriving she could have gotten to know the younger girl better and could have been well on the road of forging a sisterly relationship with Rune.

"Please...Please let go..." Rune begged as she started shaking, her eyes starting to glaze over as she kept trying to blink away the images of the men who attacked her, pinned her wrists down. She knew it was just Lillith, she could hear the girl's voice, but none of that helped.

"R-Rune? Are you okay?" Lillith asked softly as she let the younger girl's arms go. As she reached up to wipe the tears away from the younger girl she screamed and jumped back, tripping over the chair to fall back on her ass on the floor, her legs tangled up with the overturned chair. As Lillith worry grew she got up to check on Rune who kicked the chair away and scooted backwards on the floor where she curled up into a ball in the corner.

"Don't hurt me!" Rune sobbed as she shook uncontrollably while burying her face in her knees while hugging them tightly to her chest.

"Oh shit." Lillith cursed as she looked on at the crying girl trying to figure out what was going on. Biting her lip she went over to kneel next to the girl and reached out to rub the younger girl's back who flinched away but didn't run as there wasn't anywhere for her to get. After a short while of whimpering and begging to be left alone while Lillith whispered comforting and reassuring things, Rune finally calmed down.

"I'm so sorry." Rune sighed, her voice cracking as she rubbed her eyes while avoiding looking up at Lillith.

"Are you okay?" Lillith asked in worry as she made herself more comfortable next to Rune as she pulled the girl into her lap making Rune squeak out in surprise.

"What are you doing?" Rune asked, blushing a little as Lillith cradled Rune's head against her chest while stroking her hair.

"Comforting my little sister." Lillith said as she gently squeezed Rune who sighed tiredly as she let the older girl cradle her. "Want to tell me what that was about though?"

"I...a bunch of guys attacked me before I came here. They...hurt me..really bad. I probably would have died if..." Rune said, stopping herself before mentioning Lina.

"They raped you, didn't they?" Lillith asked as she took a long look at the girl. She didn't really know Naruto that well, or Naru as it turned out, but she knew the girl didn't deserve the pain the idiots heaped on her. A part of her wondered if this was Naru after hearing the meeting with her mother and the idiots who were behind what happened to Naru. It was impossible though as the eyes and hair was different and there were no whisker marks. Okay, so it wasn't Naru, but Rune must have been through hell just as Naru must have suffered through. Rune didn't say anything but the way she stiffened and the small nod told Lillith all she needed to know. Someone hurt her new little sister, and she hoped the bastards burned for it. "I know I've been a bitch since I came here...but we're family now. Family, real family is there for each other d4espite if they share the same blood or not."

"What are you saying?" Rune asked, hope shining in her eyes as she pulled away so she could look up into the older girl's eyes to see if there were any signs of lies there.

"I'm saying that I want us to be family. I was stupid and believed what my mom told me when I knew better. No more, I won't let her hurt me anymore by making me turn away those who love me. Those who I love even if I was too scared to admit it." Lillith said making Rune hug her tightly.

"Your serious? Your really serious?" Rune asked, crying a little though this time it was because she was happy. She gained two sisters and a father when she started with nothing. Then again, she might loose Lillith if the girl found out that Rune was lying about her true identity, especially since they knew each other, if only a little.

"Of course I'm serious, little sister." Lillith said happily kissing the top of Rune's head.

'Make sure you are sure about this, once you do it then it can't be undone.' Lina warns as she sensed what Rune was planning. Rune smiled mentally at Lina while nodding her head.

"I came from Konoha before I found my way here." Rune said softly as she pulled away to sit on the floor facing Lillith while leaning back against the wall facing the older girl. She was getting nervous though as she tried to form the words to confess who she was.

"How?" Lillith asked confused as she cocked her head studying the younger girl. "Your facial features...they look like her, but your eyes...your hair..."

"Don't forget my whiskers." Rune said grinning nervously making Lillith giggle a little as she realized that a ninja from Konoha never recognized the girl before her. They were trained to see underneath the underneath and he overlooked the most wanted girl from Konoha right now. Of course there were still many civilians who was on the fence on what they believed about Rune, but almost the entire shinobi population was searching for the legacy of the fourth when the truth came out. They had to let the general population know a little as they searched for the ex-blonde so if anyone spotted her they could grab her up and whisk her away to the Hokage tower so she could be cared for like she should have been. Of course, they never let it out the kind of pain and humiliation the younger girl was forced through.

"That idiot didn't even recognize you!" Lillith said. She didn't really like shinobi that much besides her sister and a few others she personally knew as many were egotistical and believed civilians below them. Or at least from her experience from the bastards that often visited her home at nights. Nights she was kept up from the noises from the master bedroom.

"You can't tell anyone, please." Rune pleaded.

"Relax little sister, as far as I'm concerned a majority of Konoha can burn to the ground and I wouldn't give a damn. They're mostly a bunch of hypocrites." Lillith said, "Though some people are supposedly getting better. Sakura isn't the little clone of our mother anymore. And from what I heard there was a big shakeup in the council, a lot of them were imprisoned or executed for treason. And...Naru...Rune, your so called godparents came back after the daimyo forced them. From the gossip they had a lot of problems such as Tsunade being a drunk and gambler and Jiraiya a huge pervert. They've straightened up a lot and now they're doing there best to turn their lives around so they can take care of you when they find you."

"As if I'll go back." Rune said with determination.

"Don't worry, most are too stupid to realize its you and I sure the hell am not turning you in." Lillith said.

"The daimyo knows where I am, but his son promised that I would not be dragged back unless I go back freely and on my own. He said they messed up and this is their consequence and they would have to deal with it." Rune explained.

"Good, let those bastards suffer." Lillith said giving a reassuring grin to her younger sister.

* * *

"You should tell her." Rose said as she poured herself and Ryu another saucer of saki. They just got the information that Ryu had been looking for ever since finding little Naru and taking the girl in. Neither of them liked the idea of the woman abandoning her own daughter as Ryu explained to Rose about Kushina apparently being alive while the woman's daughter was here. Rose didn't believe that there was something else going on as she believed that Kushina was a bitch that abandoned her baby because of the fox. Ryu still swore that something else had to be going on which is why they used their contacts to see if they couldn't find the woman. Still, it was Rune's right to know and her decision on what to do.

"I was going to until Lillith came into the picture. Now Rune is starting to doubt that I still want her and if I show here the information about her mother she will think that I'm trying to get rid of her." Ryu sighed, "Maybe in a few weeks when Lillith gets settled and things get back to normal."

"Sweetie, I don't mean to knock your girl, but she needs a reality check. She's been nothing but a bitch to both you and Rune." Rose grumbled before downing her saki and refilling the saucers again.

"I know, I should have done something more." Ryu sighed running his fingers through his hair while letting out a long tired sigh.

"And how, Danzo personally threatened you if you didn't leave Konoha and you had no proof. He threatened your daughter if you didn't do what he said. You had no choice." Rose said taking his hand and squeezing it.

"I just feel like I failed my baby girl." Ryu grumbled.

"You didn't fail her, you did what you could sending her most of your money while I've seen you go times without." Rose said as she got up and walked around the desk and sat in Ryu's lap and held his face firmly between her hands while being gentle. She forced him to look into her eyes. "If anyone failed then it was your ex-wife...she's a failure as a human being."

"She's dead you know." Ryu sighed.

"So? She was a bitch in life and she is in death, nothing has changed. She didn't all of a sudden become good, she wasn't an angel in any sense of the word." Rose said.

"I know Rose, thank you. For everything." Ryu said as their faces drew closer and closer, their lips brushing against the others in a kiss.

"You know this is a new desk, right?" Rose asked with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"So?" Ryu asked as he arched an eyebrow, but the way she started moving in his lap let him know where she was going with this.

"It's been forever since we had aloe time." Rose whispered as she nipped Ryu's ear, "Want to break it in?"

* * *

It was several hours later that Ryu found himself walking home, tired but happier than he had been in awhile. He had almost forgotten how Rose could make him feel, making him feel better about himself while giving him more confidence. She took away the stress and worry that had been bothering him as they made love on her desk. They loved each other, sometimes as friends while other times as more, but they would always be there for the other no matter what was needed.

As he came to the door of the shop he froze as he heard giggling, the giggling of two familiar girls. A small smile spread across his face as he pushed open the door and called out, "I'm back!"

"Papa!" Rune cried as she bounded out of the back and threw her arms around him in a hug. That wasn't anything new as Rune could go from being very independent to needing to feel the warmth of his arms as he held and comforted her or just to let her know that he was there and loved her. What surprised him was the second set of arms that hugged him.

"Welcome back daddy!" Lillith said with a nervous smile as she looked up at Ryu.

"So what did you two break?" Ryu asked jokingly as Rune smacked his chest softly.

"No, we didn't break anything papa. We just decided we would rather be happy as a family than sad as strangers." Rune said.

"I'm so sorry for they way I acted daddy." Lillith said sadly as she looked down. Ryu cupped her chin and gently tilted her head up to look in her eyes.

"I love you angel, I always had and I always will." Ryu said as he hugged her and kissed the top of her head making her break down in tears as he held her. For the first time in a long time she was truly happy.

* * *

"Is he okay?" Sakura asked as she poked the small pillar of ice that formed around the devil cat that was trapped inside thanks to Gray's bloodline limit. She wouldn't admit it, but she was smirking internally at seeing the pain in the ass cat in this position. At first she thought this cat was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, a perfect angel as he sat there licking his paw and washing his face. However when she walked up to reach down and pick him up she was in for a big surprise when she lifted him up to look into his eyes to coo at him. She screamed as his claws flashed tearing up her arms and face as she dropped him and fell to her knees clutching at her damaged face. Luckily Shizune was walking by and healed up the damage since it was minor despite looking...and feeling bad.

"He'll be fine." Gray said smirking.

"Not if I get a hold of him first." Sasuke said, anger in his voice as he glared hatefully at the cat. How dare the little bastard damage Sakura's face like that? Even if Shizune healed the pink haired girl, Sasuke still wanted to skin the little bastard.

"As much as I would love a new fur lined kunai pouch, the fire daimyo's wife will be pissed if we hurt him...no matter how much I want to." Sakura said, sighing as she punched the glass softly causing it to crack and shatter leaving a dazed, soaked and shivering furball on the ground.

"Good job my cute little genin." Kakashi said with pride in his voice as he picked the softly mewling cat up by the scruff of the neck.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Hiruzen asked as he watched into the crystal ball as a red haired woman blinked and blinked again at seeing how well the three did capturing the cat despite the rough start.

"They did okay I guess." Neferet said as she crossed her arms under her breasts squeezing them together a little and lifting them slightly. The small trickle of blood from the old man's nose made the woman smirk.

She had to admit that the team had the best record of catching the latest incarnation of Tora than any other. Despite getting a late start because of what happened to them, this team looked like it had more promise than the others despite all of them trying to become more serious after learning about Naru's circumstances. This team would go far now that they got a reality check up their asses.

"I'll take that as a good sign as you never praise genin." Hiruzen chuckled as the woman did the handseals to henge into the much larger form of what was passed off as the fire daimyo's wife to the newly minted genin. Of course the real Miku would be pissed if she found out that they made her look like this.

"Take it as you wish old man, but mark my words. Those genin will be something special if they continue to grow as both individuals and as ninja. Do NOT let anyone try and take their humanity from them or you will be sorry." Neferet said as she smirked before the office doors were kicked open and Kakashi came in holding a squirming cat with his three genin coming in after them. She smirked as she noticed Gray starting to strip off all of his clothes but his boxers before sitting in a chair against the wall.

"You PERVERT!" Sakura screeched before punching the boy in the head.

"AHEM!" Kakashi cleared his throat, "Lord Hokage, team seven reporting that mission was successful. We managed to catch the fire daimyo wife's cat."

"Oh my baby Tora!" Neferet cried out as she took the cat and hugged it tightly to her before skipping out the door making everyone sweat drop.

"You owe me big time Neferet. I'm thinking at least three cans of tuna." The cat whispered so that only Neferet could hear.

"I'll buy you four." Neferet whispered back to her summons as the door closed behind them.

"Good job on a successful first mission together team seven. I'm proud of you all, you have each shown a large amount of growth in your personal lives as well as you skills." Hiruzen said, truly proud of the people before him.

"Thank you Lord Hokage." Kakashi said bowing his head and putting his fist over his heart before straightening back up. Hiruzen was happy for him as he seemed to move on from mourning his past for the most part thanks to Anko, though he would always regret his mistakes and miss those that he loved who were no longer with them.

Sasuke was another one who seemed to change a lot as he no longer spent a great deal of time brooding as he became a very productive team mate and even grew close to his two live in teammates. He had even started seeing Sakura in the way the girl always dreamed about.

Sakura herself had grown as a person and as a ninja as Tsunade began working under Shizune as her assistant. It was kind of ironic that the student had become the master, though that left Tsunade without an apprentice which she actually offered the spot to Sakura recently. She had also stopped judging everyone by her preconceived notions and instead started to get to know people before judging them. That was unless someone really pissed her off, then the Hokage pitied the fool who would dare do that.

Gray was one who could manage to piss the pink haired girl off, but usually their arguments were just for show as the two loved each other like siblings. He was a bit of a mystery to Hiruzen and the clan heads, but they all agreed that he seemed very loyal to the leaf and his team. His bloodline limit was also very strong able to have a mastery over ice that few had ever been seen to have. Though his memory was still shredded beyond recovery according to the Yamanaka, he still pushed on and lived his life to the fullest with his teammates...his family.

"Good job today team seven, I'll be watching as I expect great things out of you." Hiruzen said giving the four a smile before dismissing him to get back to his paperwork. He had high hopes for the future of this generation of shinobi as they looked to be even more powerful than their parents. He just wished that the girl he saw as a granddaughter was there as he was sure she would have been the best of all of them. He just hoped that she was happy wherever she was.


	13. Act I Part XIII Goodbye

**Act I, Part XIII  
Goodbye  
**

* * *

I admit this chapter was a little shorter than I originally planned. Actually, I was thinking about making it two different chapters but wanted to try using flashbacks and see if it would turn out okay.

I've gotten several reviews that was unsigned and only saying Guest. Please when you review if you don't sign in, put in some kind of name so I can respond to you here much easier. The last Guest review said, " the hell is this is this even Naruto anymore" Yes, this is Naruto. The whole point of this story is following Naruto, currently calling herself Rune as she grows. Going from frightened demon container, to unwilling ninja and daughter as she tries different things, to becoming an agent of her daimyo while giving her older half sister a headache as she travels and screws with bandits and spends time at Inns enjoying what she likes to do by playing and singing, to finding her way to answers about where she came from, to becoming a Genin for a different village, to going back to Konoha during the Chunin exams to win and shove it in all of her haters' faces that she had become strong and well rounded and let them know they threw away their heroes legacy and lost her to another village. So yes this is still Naruto, this ends the first Arc and there will be a more action and more ninjutsu and ninja in the next arc.

As for Arc II, should I post it as a seperate story or continue it here?

I almost forgot, a revier called Guest in a previous chapter said they wanted to see Lillith and Rune be together and I said I probably wouldn't for this story since I wanted to keep them in a sisterly relationship. After talking to Secretly Immortal about it and getting her reaction to my ideas and helping a lot with figuring out what to do, I decided that they will become a couple though in Act III there will be someone else who Rune becomes attatched to. Thank you so much Secretly Immortal for all your help.

* * *

The rain was coming down hard, the sky devoid of thunder or lightning thankfully. Rune idly thought how it was pretty much appropriate as it seemed the heavens were crying for the loss of one of the greatest men Rune knew. She ignored how the downpour was weighing down her black dress and cloak, the material soaked and clinging to her body though she refused an umbrella that her adopted sister and Rose offered her. She couldn't help wishing that Cherry was here to comfort her.

'It will be okay, you'll see.' Lina said softly, sending as much love and comfort as possible through their link.

"I don't know how." Rune sighed as she thought about the last four months since Lillith accepted both Ryu and Rune as members of her family. Even if lately Lillith hadn't been acting exactly sisterly.

**~FLASHBACK ~**

It had been a month since Ryu came back to find both of the girls that were his daughters, one by blood and one by adoption, both sharing a place in his heart. He was happy that they were getting along so well now after he came back from seeing his doctor about the pain in his chest lately and the dizzy spells and moments of weakness. He didn't get good news, if he was lucky he would last maybe six months before his heart failed completely. Medical ninjutsu and medicines could do a lot, surgeries even able to cure so much, but his heart was dying...he was dying.

Playing with the scroll in his hand as he sat waiting for his girls to get back from making several deliveries. He would be hiring some help since he would be needing to take it more easy, but he didn't know how to tell his girls about what was going to happen. If he told them, then the last few months they had together they would be too worried about him for them to enjoy what little time they had left together.

"We're back, papa!" Rune called out as the door's bell chimed.

"Where are you daddy?" Lillith's voice called out, joining her sisters.

"Back here girls, please lock the door and put up the closed sign. We need to talk." Ryu called back as he took a deep breath to calm himself, finding his center. He gave them a soft smile seeing them come through the curtain and motioned for them to join him at the table. Sitting down in front of him eyeing the scroll curiously.

"Rune, I have some news for you, though I'm not sure how you will take it." Ryu sighed, clutching the scroll to him. He couldn't hide his worry though as he watched Rune's face grow curious, though both of the girls looking a little worried as they inspected his face.

"What is it papa?" Rune asked as she reached out to find Lillith's hand, interlocking their fingers together as the younger girl sought support from the girl she was starting to see as an older sister.

"First, I want you to know that I love you, you ARE my daughter no matter what." Ryu says softly pushing the scroll over to Rune who let go of Lillith's hand, shaking a little while picking up the scroll and opening to read it. "I feel you had a right to know that your mother was alive and let you decide if you want to try and write her. I saw her not long after the Kyubi attack, she said she was going to stay with her sisters because she lost her baby girl."

"M-My moms alive?" Rune asked, feeling numb for a few moments before realizing that her mom was alive. The bitch abandoned her!

"I don't know why she left you sweetie, but I will never leave you by choice." Ryu assured her trying to hide back his sadness at knowing in a few months he would be abandoning her in a way. "I thought you had a right to know, to decide if you want to talk to her at all. I got a hold of some of my contacts and they found her in Mist, but I haven't been able to get a hold of her. They are in a civil war, rumors say that it ended while others doesn't. Either way, it is hard getting a letter through."

"She can go to hell." Rune snarled, getting up and stomping out of the room. She was so pissed at her mother, knowing that she was alive the entire time while Rune suffered at the hands of the bastards in Konoha. There was only a few people she loved and cared for back at her supposed home, but she wasn't intending on going back or contacting her mother.

**~END FLASHBACK~**

Rune watched, quietly crying as the rain mixed with her tears. A part of her angry that he abandoned her. Left her alone. Feeling the hand take hers, wrapping their fingers interlock with her own Rune looked up to see the sad face of Lillith who whispered, "Hey."

"Hey back." Rune said softly feeling a little ashamed that she was so cold to everyone one earlier when they gathered here. Lillith was hurting just as much as she was. Hell, Lillith was the one who found out that Ryu was sick.

**~Flashback~**

Rune was working on the newest shipment of inventory, their new employee having the day off leaving Rune to deal with the new stuff. She was just checking off the shipment list when Lillith's shriek from the back made Rune drop the paper to run back to see what was wrong. Ryu was collapsed on the ground, flushed and covered in a sheen of sweat as Lillith was kneeling next to him, shaking him and begging him to wake up.

"What happened?" Rune asked running to Ryu's other side to kneel by him.

"I don't know, I was talking to Daddy and he started sweating and breathing hard. All of a sudden he collapsed and I have no idea what to do." Lillith sobbed.

"Come on, help me get him to bed." Rune sighed as she lifted him up, slinging his arm over her shoulder. She idly noticed how Lillith sagged under their dad's weight as they took him to Rune's bed and laid him on it.

"Get some cold water and a cloth, keep it wet and on his forehead." Rune explained softly, urgently after getting Lillith to pay attention. "I'm going to get Rose and dad's doctor. I'll be right back."

No matter how fast Rune ran and how quickly they got back, there was nothing that could be done for their father. He had caught a virus, the flu, and in his heart's weakened condition it sped up the rate at which his heart was failing. For less than a week the two girls sat at his bedside taking turns comforting him, trying to be strong for him the few times he woke. It was so hard seeing him so weak, but they stayed strong for him while they talked and he kept telling them how much he loved them and how sorry he was. Again, it was Lillith who had been there for him during his final moments while Rune had gone to let Rose know how well he was doing and pick up some medicine to help with the pain he was going through. When she got back, she found Lillith sobbing into his unmoving chest.

**~End Flashback~**

Slowly, the two looked at each other and as one walked up to the casket and laid a rose each on top of the closed box housing their father's body. Both of them lending the other support as the rain began to let up, a few small rays of sunshine breaking the cloud cover of the storm.

"We love you papa and we'll miss you." Rune said softly, sniffling as Lillith squeezed her hand in support, Rune squeezing back.

"We will take care of each other like you asked though, daddy. We'll make you proud of us, just watch." Lillith said, smiling a little through her tears. "Thank you so much for everything that you've done for us daddy. We love you."

Sadly the two moved away from the coffin, Rune having a hard time keeping her strength and not collapse on the ground in a bawling mess. She had a father, she finally had a family and it was ripped from her. Why did she have to lose him?

'Sometimes things happen kit, there are is no reasons for it. It isn't fair, but know he loved you very much. Cherish what time you had and keep his memory in your heart. One day you will see him again, I promise you.' Lina said trying to console her young hosts, a small smile forming when she felt Rune's spirit lift just a little.

"Your right." Rune sighed mentally, "I will remember, but I can't stay here. I'm leaving this place."

'Your going to look for her, aren't you?' Lina said as she wondered if this would end up well.

"The bitch caused a lot of my pain for abandoning me and I have a right to know why. I want my answers Lina, I deserve them after all of the hell I've been through."

'What about Lillith?' Lina asked softly, already knowing the answer and not liking it.

"I love her and that's why I'm leaving her behind. She'll be safe here and I won't have to worry about her. She's already learned so much about being Rose's assistant as mayor and will inherit papa's place on Rose's advisory council." Rune replied. She wouldn't tell anyone, she would just pack up and leave and not tell anyone as it would be much easier that way.

'Your just running away.' Lina sighed, unable to hide the disappointment that Rune would do it though she couldn't really blame her. Despite being mature and acting like a grownup most of the time, Rune was still a very hurt little girl.

"So what? It's not like Lillith wouldn't abandon me to." Rune said bitterly as she pulled away from Lillith and stalked off, ignoring the older girl's protest and not seeing the hurt look on the elder girl's face. "Cherry left me, papa left me, you know Lillith and Rose will to. I'd rather leave now before that happens."

* * *

It was late that night when everyone was gone from the shop, Rune asking Lillith to leave her be and go home so the younger girl could mourn in peace by herself. She stood looking over what she owned, most of it now sealed in the few very small seal arrays on the inside of her wrists that was hard to notice. She loved seals though all she really knew how to do was create storage seals. True that was helpful and came easily to her, but she just didn't have the patience to learn the more advanced seals for other more advanced things.

Taking her pack and securing it on her back under the cloak she slipped on she blew out the candles and moved to the front of the store where she intended to write a letter. Instead she froze as she saw Lillith standing there crying, also wearing a cloak and what looked like a pack on her back confusing Rune.

"Where are you going?" Lillith asked, sounding almost angry though the hurt in her voice was clearly understood.

"Out for a walk." Rune said, her voice cracking as she avoided the older girl's eyes.

"Bullshit!" Lillith snapped, letting out a soft sob as she stalked to Rune and backed her up against a wall.. "Why the hell are you doing this? Why are you trying to run away here, from me and everyone else that cares for me?"

"Why do you care, I'm leaving you my share of what papa left us!" Rune snapped, gasping as Lillith sapped her hard.

"You want to know why I care?" Lillith sobbed grabbing Runes face and smashed her lips against Rune's for several minutes in a deep, passionate kiss. She leaned her head against Runes, both of them breathing heavy, pain in their eyes. "I care because I love you, you silly girl. I fucking love you!"

"Y-you don't know what you are talking about." Rune shivered, trying to keep her heart from thundering in her chest. She couldn't let her hopes get up.

"I'm not stupid, Rune. I know about Cherry. Well guess what, you aren't the only one who likes girls. Why do you think my momma hated me so much? Why every marriage contract she tried to make fell through? It's because I couldn't give a shit about guys, what I care about is girls...especially one girl." Lillith said, "You are not leaving here without me."

"B-But..." Rune tried to say, but Lillith shut her up with another kiss before taking Rune's room. Before Rune was even able to regain her equilibrium, Lillith was stripped of everything and was working on getting Runes stuff off. "Please stop this if you really don't love me, I can't take another person abandoning me."

"I won't ever abandon you. I love you. I intend to claim you. And I intend to make you mine forever." Lillith said, pausing between each declaration to kiss Rune. "Now answer me this, do you love me? Enough to let me be there for you, to share everything with you?"

"Yes." Rune sobbed, a smile on her lips despite everything that had happened. Lillith lowered her softly to the bed where they spent a majority of the night making love to each other. There first night together as a couple.

* * *

"Looks like you girls had a good night." A voice giggled waking two girls up, their limbs tangled with each other. With an 'eep' both girls grabbed the sheet and pulled it up over their chest as they sat up and cuddled together to look up at Rose. It was apparent that the woman spent the night crying. "I'm glad you caught up to Rune, sweetie. You two are going to need each other."

"Thank you for warning me that she was going to leave." Lillith said, softly.

"Hey, I'm right here." Rune said making Rose and Lillith giggle a little.

"I know sweetie, and I'm not saying anything bad about you." Rose said sitting down on the edge of the bed making the two girls scoot over a little. Leaning over she kissed Rune's forehead. "I love you Rune, you ARE my daughter. I know you need to leave and find some answers, but I hope you find the ones you need and not the ones you expect."

"And I'll be right there with you." Lillith said kissing Rune's cheek.

"What about papa's shop? Your home?" Rune asked a sadness washing over the three at remembering Ryu.

"I already told Lillith that I will take care of the house and I will keep an eye on the shop. You have a good person working here who will make sure things run smoothly and as I said I will keep an eye on everything." Rose said, "I love you both and I expect you to write and come back and see me, do you understand me?"

"Yes mama." Rune said, giving the older woman a shaky smile.

"We will mommy." Lillith said, calling Rune mom for the first time making the older woman tear up a little more.

"I love both you girls." Rose said pulling them both into a hug and kissing each of them on the head. "You better stay safe."


	14. Act II Part I Changes

**Act II, Part I**

**Changes**

* * *

Okay, I admit I suck at fight scenes, but I hope the few I have here turned out Okay. This chapter is twice as long as what I normally have been doing, but wanted to get the introduction into the second arc done instead of breaking it into two different parts. I may get more updates done this week thanks to the fact that Aaron's Rent to Own gives you half off a new agreement when something gets paid off. My mom paid off the washer she got since our last one died and gave me the half off thing. I had enough money to get a notebook to play with for a moth and I have to say being able to take it with me anywhere so rocks. I just wish I had enough money to keep it forever, but they want way too much for the damned things normally.

I wanted to thank Secretly Immortal for all the help she again gave on helping me get Lillith set up in the continuing story and all the ideas provided for what is to come. Hopefully everyone will enjoy the changes this chapter brings to the story and to Lillith herself as I really didn't want her to be super weak and take the time it would take to get her trained to a decent point to help Rune when needed.

Also, when Rune is dressed in her Siren gear I put a link on what she looks like on my profile. I know the pic is from a game actually, but this is how I actually envisioned her, though I originally intended to have her wear a full skirt instead of shorts and the half skirt, though I like the shorts and half skirt as it would be a little better in a physical fight in a way. Also, she has seals in the outfit that makes the outfit hard to damage from corrosive chakra and making it easier to clean dirt and blood from it.

As a fair warning, this chapter has yuri and some disturbing scenes in it, though NO lemons.

* * *

Rune Age 15...

This was disgusting, it didn't matter how many times she let it happen, it was still disgusting. She hated the feel of grubby, rough hands on her body as they groped her and held her in place on the bandit leader's lap. This time Rune was dressed in a barmaid's outfit that showed off a more than generous amount of cleavage that was a good start at infiltrating the camp as the idiot's thought she would be helpless and a good addition to the kidnapped woman being held in one of the tents waiting to be sold as slaves...when the bastards here tired of them. As if, there was no way in hell Rune was leaving a single girl to suffer at the hands of the monsters one more night.

It was another large camp, so she had to play it safe. Of course that meant that she wanted to go in and take care of phase one herself, not that Lillith was happy about that. Lillith was a better choice in a way for phase one if Rune would admit it since the change as it was in her nature. Of course that was also Rune's fault that Lillith had become what she was though the girl never blamed her for it. Even if Lillith would have been better at phase one though, her very nature made her even better for phase two as she could easily sense where most of the highest concentrated place of sexual energy was inside of the camp mixed with fear and hatred. Lillith could sneak through the shadows and secure the girl's safety and protect her when the shit hit the fan and Rune went wild.

"You know baby, I really thought you were the so called Siren at first." The man holding Rune said with a sneer, "I brought you here to kill you, but after hearing that terrible performance, there is no way your her. Let's just hope you are better at other things or I might just have to kill you."

"B-But you promised me I was just going to be entertainment." Rune whimpered as she pretended to be sacred as the man crushed his lips against hers roughly, a handful of her hair making her whimper. She was pissed though when the man said her music wasn't good even though she intentionally performed badly to take suspicions off of her after word of the Siren had spread so far out. Especially here in the land she was born, the land of fire. She had ventured out to several other lands also while avoiding going to the Mist Village were her mother was which was what she originally planned.

"Well baby, I lied." The man said cupping and groping her breasts through her top as he slid his hand to the tip getting ready to rip it open.

'I have them Rune, the girl's are safe.' Lillith said over their mind link that was one of the benefits of Lillith's change.

'It's about time, the bastard was about to rip my dress open!' Rune shot back.

'I'll kill the fucker!' Lillith hissed angrily, jealousy filling their link.

'Be careful, both of you.' Lina warned them as Rune looked up at the man, a smile forming as red started bleeding into her eyes.

"Wh-What the hell?" The man asked as he shoved Rune off his lap as Rune's canines lengthened, her currently purple hair shifting to a dark black as her whisker marks bleed back into view while her fingernails turned to vicious looking claws.

"Do you know how much I hate slavers?" Rune asked before reaching out faster than the man's eyes could follow and ripped his throat out making him choke and drown on his own blood before he even had a chance to scream a warning to his underlings outside his tent. Shaking her head Rune began carefully stripping her dress off of her seeing how it didn't have any blood or damage to it. It could be used again later at another camp or another disguise. She sealed it away and pulled what she dubbed her Siren uniform, what she was known as at the guild halls that had been put up in several of the villages lately and the bingo books she was stuck in despite not even being an official ninja. After getting dressed she pulled out her two favorite kunai and held them reverse grip as she let Lina's chakra and youkai wash over her as the fox cloak took shape around her in the form of the one tail.

"Did you hear that?" A voice asked, coming from outside the closed tent flap as Rune gripped the two kunai tighter in her reversed grip and jumped through the flap, burning a hold through the tent with her fox cloak. The two men looked on in horror for less that a second before Rune spun between them while reaching out to slit there throats killing them. Several of the bandits started screaming alerting the other members as they rushed at her, two of them firing arrows at her. She didn't worry about the arrows as the wood was incinerated from the outer edge of the demonic energy and the arrow heads slowed down and harmlessly bounced of her.

"What the hell are you?" Several of the men snarled as they surrounded her making Rune wished she created some mirror cones beforehand, but then again, these pathetic bandits weren't worth. Instead, she just created the seal needed for her favorite technique.

With a whispered, "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" the area was surrounded with so many dark haired women that they even leave room for the bandits to escape.

'How bad is it?' Rune asked, a part of her wondering if any of these men were worth saving.

'It's bad Rune, some of the women were beaten pretty good, a couple of them barely able to move.' Lillith replied, 'I'm doing what I can for them, but I can only heal so much. I'm not so good with this, you know.'

'I know love, just do your best, that's all I ask for.' Rune replied as she grimaced. She doubted any of the men deserved to be left alive, in her feral state her senses were increased and she could smell sex on almost every single bandit which meant they all probably had a hand in hurting them.

"Well, boys, I guess your luck just ran out." Rune sighed, "Kill them."

A few screams filled the air as the massacre began. She didn't have to worry about leaving any of the bastards alive because idiots like these always left behind plenty of paper to point out any and all accomplices they had in possible positions of power and who they were aligned with, if anyone. Her army of shadow clones started sorting through the dead bodies while taking anything of value or anything that could prove helpful in shutting down any other camps such as this one.

"Hey love." A woman with blood red hair said as she melted up from the ground from the darkness and wrapped her arms around Rune from behind.

"Hey Lily." Rune sighed, her eyes watering a little as she looked at the sea of dead bodies around her. They were all human beings that she was responsible for killing and it didn't sit easy with her, it never did. It was another reason she preferred taking care of phase one because she didn't want to stain Lillith's hands with any more blood than was necessary. She didn't want to make Lillith responsible for being the one who actually did the killing.

"Don't cry for them love, you know that they may be dead but if you didn't kill them then they would have kept kidnapping, raping and beating, and selling women as slaves. They even killed more than their fair share of people. If you didn't stop it then they would have kept doing it." Lillith said hugging Rune tighter.

"I know, I just..." Rune said, trying to form words for how she was feeling.

'It is never easy to end a life, no matter how necessary. It's when it doesn't bother you when you have to worry about it.' Lina said softly over the link with the two.

"Come on, let's get phase three over with." Rune sighed as her clones came back with three scrolls that Rune knew contained the severed heads of three of the bandits that was listed in the bounty listings that she had with her. Taking them she sealed them in one of the seals on her sleeves for collecting later. She looked over near the fire pit where the rest of the clones was stacking the rest of the bodies of the bandits, most of them stripped naked.

"Go check on the girls, Rune, they're in the smaller black tent." Lillith said as she moved over to look up at the bodies that was piled there waiting for Rune to leave the area. She knew that Rune couldn't stand being near big fires and couldn't really cast large scale fire jutsu very easy without freezing up. Of course Lillith didn't blame her, not after learning about the horrible way that one man died so slowly while let out soul shattering screams as he was burned alive. As Rune disappeared into a tent to come back out with an arm full of sheets and blankets, Lillith watched her sadly as she went to check up on the victims of these bastards while the bodies were taken care of.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Lillith called out after performing the seals needed for the large ball of fire before launching it to the dead bodies and incinerated them, turning the entire pile into ash that was mostly carried away by the wind. It was dark out and Lillith couldn't help admiring the beauty of the savage flames in the dark despite the horrendous reason they were needed for.

* * *

The tent was dark inside and the cries and whimpers from the battered women inside the tent who looked up with fear filled eyes that were illuminated from the lone oil filled torch in the center. Some of the women were laying on the cold ground since there were no bedrolls or blankets. Most of them were completely naked while the few who weren't may have well been since the clothes they did have were shredded rags now not hiding anything or protecting against the elements. It pissed Rune off to no end seeing these women in this shape making it easier to deal with what she did a few minutes ago realizing how justified she was ending there miserable lives.

"Please don't hurt us." One of the women in better shape than most pleaded as the women hung their heads avoiding Rune's gaze while this one had a single black eye and fear matching the looks in the other women's eyes that Rune caught before they looked away.

"Oh sweetie, we aren't going to hurt you, we're here to help you." Rune said, a soft sob escaping as this woman believed she was with those bastards.

"Hurry and get out of here before they come back." Another woman said, barely able to pull herself up into a sitting position. She seemed older than the others and despite they pain she was in, she was showing how worried she was for Rune's safety. "Hurry and run child, if they catch you..."

"They won't be, they're all dead." Rune said as she began passing out the sheets and blankets to the battered women so they could at least cover up while they figured out what to do. "Was there another woman in here earlier?"

"Yes, she healed some of us though we thought we were imagining her at first. She looked like...we thought we were seeing things." The first woman said making Rune sigh in relief as this was the only tent. As she looked around at the women she realized why they haven't moved yet, all of them were wearing collars with chains binding them to posts in the ground.

"Here's some keys we found and all of the loot is gathered just outside." One of Rune's clones said bringing in a ring full of keys. It didn't take long to find the necessary keys as most of the women looked at her with suspicion. "Oh yeah, there's also a small group coming this way."

"Crap, I thought we had all of them here." Rune cursed.

"Lillith said that you did, the incoming is under the banner of the Fire Damiyo." The clone replied with a smile.

"Ah crap, she's going to be pissed." Rune moaned knowing just who was coming. If it wasn't for the women here Rune would have grabbed Lillith and ran like hell.

"Whose going to be pissed." The last woman asked as Rune released her.

"My sister." Rune sighed beginning to wish she left a couple thugs alive anyways so Amelia wouldn't be so upset with her.

* * *

"So let me get this straight? Even though I warned you last time about this sort of thing, you still went ahead and massacred the entire fucking camp?" Amelia demanded as she paced in front of her younger sister as her men guarded the tent were the women were resting and the female medic of the team went over any injuries.

"They were RAPING those women and planning to sell or kill them. What the hell did you want me to do? Offer myself to them as a fucktoy?" Rune snapped angrily.

"Language young lady!" Amelia snapped.

"You aren't my mother!" Rune snapped back getting into the older girl's face.

"No, I'm your sister." Amelia sighed pulling a struggling Rune into an embrace, holding the younger girl tightly.

"You should have seen them!" Rune sobbed into Amelia's shoulder as the older girl rubbed circles on Rune's bare back.

"Shhh, sweetie, I know. How many camps is this? Forty-seven? Sweetie, don't you think it's time you stopped now?" Amelia asked softly as Lillith stayed quiet, stealthily moving away to join the other samurai that accompanied Amelia to leave the two sisters to talk.

"I can't stop, I keep seeing her!" Rune cried, "I keep seeing them!"

"You've saved the lives of so many women, of so many victims of bandits. Rune, it wasn't your fault and you shouldn't keep doing this. This is MY job, not yours. You accepted the job as one of our Lord's shadow hands, one of the Free Bards, your job is to keep your eye open and report anything that might threaten the land. It isn't to hunt down bandits and kill them!" Amelia chastised Rune while trying to sound comforting all the same. This was not the first time the two sisters found themselves in this predicament over the last months. Amelia ordered to keep an eye out for Rune when reports of a woman calling herself Siren attacking bandits while at the same time being sent to investigate reports of possible slave camps. Little did Amelia know that the two things would go hand in hand as she found her sister wiping out a slave camp and saving the people being kept there. Thankfully that one wasn't a sex slave camp like many of the slave camps turned out to be, so there were actually a few bandits left alive for Amelia to interrogate while admonishing her little sister for doing something so dangerous. Then again, Amelia would probably wipe out the entire camp if she saw what Rune did during her first time infiltrating a group of bandits as Siren.

**~Flashback~**

Not for the first time Rune cursed herself for walking towards the group of tents with rough looking men patrolling the perimeter. She had defeated groups of bandits before when she was on the road before arriving in Tanzuka, but that was not an entire encampment of them that had been terrorizing a small village. They had taken a majority of the women ranging from around her age up to about Rose's age while killing anyone who tried to rescue them. At first Rune was worried about what to do as Lillith and her stayed at the Inn for a couple days while they made plans. Of course Rune refused to let Lillith anywhere near the camp and ordered her to stay at the Inn while Rune decided to scope out the camp. Now a part of Rune was getting worried about worried about if this was even remotely a good idea as she was ok, good even, but there were a lot of bandits. None of them probably trained in ninjutsu as none of the rumors and gossip hinted at any jutsu being thrown around.

"Halt!" One of the bandit sentry's barked out before he realized that Rune was a girl, a very beautiful girl with snow white hair and pink eyes. Her dress was simple, yet low cut with the bodice hugging and lifting her breasts in a way to maximize cleavage while showing it off at the same time. As she thought the man was staring at her, or her cleavage to be exact, and didn't even notice the ocarina that she carried and a small bag that seemed to contain some clothing while a cloak hung loosely around her.

"I'm so sorry sir, I didn't know this was an outpost village." Rune cried out in surprise while pouting. "I was looking for a place to rest, maybe even an Inn that would let me play in exchange for a night of rest."

"You aren't from around here, are you?" The man asked, clearly undressing her with his eyes. Even though it was pissing her off that he was so blatantly obvious about it, she acted like she didn't even notice.

"No sir!" Rune chirped while flipping her hair in a flirtatious manner. "Ooooo, I know, you soldiers must not get a lot of entertainment with all the work you do protecting the village! How about I play for everyone when your resting? I can get some practice and show my appreciation for all of you big, strong men making the area safe for me to travel in." Putting her ocarina in her bag and recalling some of the things she saw in the Lotus, she held her hands behind her back and leaned forward, jutting her chest out a bit. "Who knows, maybe if you wanted I can even..." Rune gags mentally while blushing purposely as she takes another step forward and rubs up against the man and trail her fingers up his chest. "Give you some more...personal entertainment."

'And the winner for best actress is!' Lina giggled, threatening to make Rune do so as well.

'Shhhhh, your going to make me blow my cover.' Rune replied.

'I think something is about to blow if you don't stop teasing the idiot.' Lina said making Rune blush for real.

"I think that can be arranged, let's go meet my boss." The man grinned as Rune took his arm, making sure to push her breasts up against his arm as she walked with him through the camp. Thugs were lined all over the place making Rune more nervous as she didn't think there were so many of them and now that she was in the middle of it there was no choice but to move forward unless she wanted to become there slave and there was no way in hell she would do that.

"New blood, Meyers?" A large man wearing just leather pants and boots with a dagger on his belt asked coming up. He wore a black cord with a fang of some kind and had scars criss-crossing all over his muscled chest making Rune gulp nervously.

'If he wasn't one of these bastards I would say he was hot!' Lina crooned from inside of Rune's mind making the girl almost choke. She had never, ever heard the fox demon say anything like that the entire time the were linked. Nor did she feel the emotions run through the fox demoness as Lina felt a strong attraction to the brutish man standing there. Looking up in his eyes though, those deep blue eyes, both Lina and Rune froze. There was no hints of kindness in those eyes, only a deep hatred and anger filled them. They looked like they belonged to a man who was pure evil.

"Yes Sir, she was looking for a place to spend the night." The man that Rune held onto said. She cried out in shock as the new man grabbed her arm and yanked her from Meyers roughly, squeezing her arm hard enough to make her cry out in pain.

"I'll give her a place." The man said before turning and dragging Rune roughly, jerking her when she stumbled.

"Your hurting me." Rune whimpered as she was truly starting to become afraid of what was going to happen. This man had an aura that just screamed evil and strong, something that seemed so similar to killer intent, and it truly was scaring the hell out of her.

"Don't speak to me unless I tell you to, do I make myself clear?" The man growled out before backhanding her and knocking her to the ground. She didn't have time to do anything more than cry in shock before she was jerked back to her feet as her head swam from the pain of the blow. She blearily saw that she was being dragged to the biggest and most elegantly decorated tent at the middle of the encampment before she was roughly shoved through the flap to stumble several feet before catching herself on a stone table.

A whimper made her jerk her head up to see a girl about her age on her back on the table with tears streaming down her face. She had her arms above her head chained to the table that looked like it was created using an earth jutsu. Her legs were chained separately, held apart by the chains and both her wrists and ankles were red and bleeding from were it looked like she was trying to tear them off her at the cost of her hands and feet. Looking the girl over Rune could see why she must have struggled so much, her body was littered with lashes, many of them angry and bright red. That wasn't all that littered her naked body as the girl weakly cried as her body had so many bruises that many joined together looking like giant masses or dark splotches. There were also deep gashes in her body that was freely bleeding leaving much of the table top stained crimson as it trailed down the sides of the solid stone table. She looked up at Rune, her eyes so tired yet full of pain and cried out weakly, hoarsely, "H-H-Help...m-me-meee."

Rune let out a sob as she saw Cherry in this girl's position, remembering the beating that that bastard Darius gave her. Then she shook her head, this was much worse than what was done to Cherry. Rune had to fight to keep from vomiting as she noticed the dirt and dried crust all over the girl's body. Slowly she whispered, "I will sweetie, just hold on, ok?"

"Get the bitch off the table, your going on there next." The muscled man barked throwing a key at Rune that bounced off of her. Angrily the man stepper forward and swung his fist again trying to backhand her as Rune caught his fist as more anger and hatred that she ever felt flooded through her shattering the seal that Lina was scared to let her remove. "What the fuck are you?"

"**Vengeance**." Rune snarled as her voice took on a demonic tone as her fingernails changed to claws that pierced the fist she was holding as her eyes bled red, the whisker marks that she hid for so long bleeding back onto her cheeks more pronounced than ever before. The man began to scream as Rune's world exploded in pain and crimson, the last thing she remembered was her other hand grabbing the man's throat and ripping it out spraying blood all over her.

She didn't remember what happened, but Rune started to come through as she kneeled on her knees swaying a bit. She was covered in blood, the crimson liquid ruining her dress and possibly the things she had in her bag...which wasn't there. Actually, looking down she noticed that the dress hung off her body id shredded ribbons.

'It's about time, I've been trying to get you to wake up for the last ten minutes.' Lina sighed in relief as Rune looked around at all of the dead bodies around her that belonged to the bandits that populated the camp. She doubted any of them survived the slaughter.

"What happened?" Rune asked, her voice cracking as she spoke out loud, her throat feeling raw as if she hadn't used it in years.

'You broke the seal and used the fox cloak to kill all of the bandits here. The rage and anger it creates fed off your own and you lost control, not that that's a bad thing since they deserved it after what they did.' Lina seethed.

"The girl." Rune cried out as she stumbled to her feet, her muscles sore and her body stiff making her wonder why.

'The fox cloak constantly causes damager to your body that I healed along with the injuries the idiots managed to land on you.' Lina said as she too worried about the girl.

It took a few moments for Rune to find her way back to the tent she blacked out in, not caring about how she looked or about her nearly useless clothes as she rushed into the bastard's tent. She hurried to the girl while looking at her chest as a sinking feeling settled in around her. Checking the girl's pulse and finding none, realizing the girl probably bled to death, Rune collapsed on her knees against the stone table sobbing uncontrollably.

It was ironic that the girls in the tents that was being forced to work on skinning rabbits heard the commotion and came out to see Rune slaughtering their captors. It was even more ironic that they released the others and they came to her, trying their best to comfort her. The women she came to save, the ones who went through who knew what under the tyranny of the slavers, comforted Rose. When they offered Rune all of the loot that was found at the camp she shook her head and told them to take it and split it among there selves before stumbling away. She spent the next three nights crying in Lillith's arms as the older girl comforted her, telling her it wasn't Rune's fault that the girl died. Rune didn't really believe that as she was sure if she went sooner or didn't loose control then she may have been able to save the girl. No matter what though, she made a promise to never fail another girl again.

**~End Flashback~**

"So you two have gotten closer?" Amelia asked softly as the two sat on a log side by side, Rune leaning against the older girl while playing with a ring on her finger symbolizing her union with Lillith. It wasn't a wedding ring, or at least not traditionally, but it was something that symbolized their love and their relationship together as well as their link that they shared. Of course the rings weren't necessary for the links, but they kept them after it was established to show their commitment to each other. It didn't mean that they were one hundred percent exclusive despite wishing that they were, but because of Lillith's nature required it.

"Yeah, yeah we have. I really love her sis." Rune said smiling as she wiped her tears away. Killing so many people always hurt her, effected her, but she didn't want that to change. It was necessary despite Amelia telling her that it would be better to capture them for interrogation, they were bandits and as the Damiyo's shadow hand she had the right to execute someone on the field if they were caught breaking certain laws such as murder, highway robbery aka bandits, slavers and rapists. Only the highest ranked members of the Free Bards held the title and rank of Shadow Hand, yet somehow Rune had managed it quickly without even trying.

"I'm glad you found someone that you love, we all miss you though." Amelia said reaching an arm around Rune to hug her while Rune circled an arm around Amelia's waist. "Cherry told me to tell you that she wants to name two women as godmother."

"So she's had the baby?" Rune asked a little excitement leaking into her voice, "What was it?"

"Not yet, but within the month." Amelia said, "And for your information she's naming both of us as her baby's godmother."

"Me? Why me? I haven't seen her in so long." Rune cried out in shock.

"You still send her letters and she loves you, you know. Maybe not the way you wanted her to, but she loves you all the same. You mean a lot to her." Amelia said while giving the wide eyed Rune a soft smile. "Now I have a question for you, something that has been bothering me for awhile. Lillith is a civilian and despite being Ryu's daughter, she had very tiny chakra reserves. Smaller than even most civilians. Yet for the last few months every time I catch up to you, she is in the thick of things. There's even been reports of a woman helping out the Siren when fighting the missing nin that joined with some of the bandits. Care to explain that one for me?"

"Not really, it's a secret that for now we want to keep." Rune sighed.

The truth was she didn't even know how to explain it, especially when she blamed herself for it. Lina had just explained the full consequences for what Rune did by shattering the seal as it made the ability that the portion she broke increase in potency and have some unexpected side effects. It wouldn't turn Rune into a demon, but it would keep the energy that created the cloak coursing throughout her body even while deactivated. This did give her more strength and faster reflexes which had helped Rune during her raids on bandit camps since then. It also had negative side effects as it constantly damaged her human body forcing Lina to constantly heal it which slowed down, if not frozen her aging which increased her lifespan exponentially.

Since Lillith learned of this she began to grow insecure wondering if when she grew old if Rune would abandon her for someone much younger and prettier. And if Rune didn't do that then she would have to watch Lillith grow old and die. It started to eat away so much at Lillith that the two started having small fights as the stress grew that gradually became worse and worse when they stopped of at the town that would forever change their lives, though Rune was still uncertain if it was for the better or worse as Lillith had become something that was no longer human and her very nature forced her to do things she hated.

**~Flashback~**

"You know what, fuck you!" Lillith screeched, momentarily reminding Rune of the girl's younger sister. They had been arguing pretty bad as of late when they checked into the Inn after being drawn there by reports of strange occurrences. They had been introduced to the darker side of the world as they learned that there were more demons than just the summons that Lina explained about and the tailed beasts. There were creatures of the night that while rare and could be counted on the endangered species list, they were still very real.

"What the hell did I do? All I said was that I was going to take a walk around town?" Rune yelled back, her voice full of hurt as she wasn't sure what she did to make Lillith so mad at her. She loved Lillith and she knew the girl loved her, but there was something that had been pushing them apart as of late.

"Just get out! I want to be alone!" Lillith screeched as she slammed the door in Rune's face making the girl head off out of the Inn and into the night already dressed for battle in her Siren outfit. She wasn't here to hunt bandits, she was here to hunt whatever darkness that was lurking around and after the fight with her soulmate she was hurting and needed an outlet for her anger.

Thinking back to the rumors posted on the bounty boards about a woman here claiming that she saw a monster draining the life from her husband she shook her head at the few mercenaries that shared the guild hall in the small village Lillith and her were just days before. The mercenaries laughed when they saw the description if the monster and at first Rune had to agree with them that it sounded more like a case of the woman's husband having an affair. The so called monster was a very busty redhead who was caught having sex with the woman's husband. When she saw the wife the so called monster ran away leaving a very dazed, yet grinning man behind. He had been admitted to the hospital that was nearby for a severe case of exhaustion. The evidence was pointing to a very pissed off wife who caught her husband cheating, but Rune had a gut feeling that there was something going on here and she never ignored her instinct when it was reacting this strongly. Thus Lillith and her departed for this village to look into it, after all who better to fight a monster or demon than the host for the most powerful demon in the world?

Searching dark alleys and keeping an eye out from above and all around her, Rune searched for anything that could possibly be a monster. A low leveled demon? A vampire? Even a crazed shapeshifter that hunted and killed humans even though they survived by eating like any other human did.

A loud moan caught Rune's attention making her blush at what was obviously happening farther down into the alley way. At first she started to turn around to leave the obviously happy couple have their privacy while wishing that instead of monster hunting Rune was back in her room in the arms of her soulmate and everything would be okay between them. Then she remembered the description of what the supposed monster and what she was doing. Following her instincts Rune drew her dual kunai and held them in a reverse grip as she hurried down the alley until coming up to the obvious silhouette of a woman straddling someone though she couldn't make out the shape, Rune was sure the woman was on top of the man.

Rune was going to turn around as her face burned in embarrassments as they were obviously a normal couple, but the almost impossible trail of light that seemed to rise from the man and enter the woman stopped Rune. This was her monster!

"Let him go!" Rune growled out as the woman looked up, two glowing orbs or red light where the woman's eyes would be.

"I was almost finished!" The woman whined almost childishly, though her body was evidently not that of a child's. In fact, from just the dark silhouette Rune felt a little inadequate.

"Feasting of humans? Yeah, you are finished." Rune snarled as two wings seemed to melt out of the woman's back before she lifted into the sky and began flying away.

"Oh no you don't!" Rune cried out before jumping up to a dumpster, then the opposite direction to the fire escape and then the opposite roof making her look like a demented pinball as she gave chase across the roofs until they came out of the village where the woman landed softly on the ground. The clearing was bathed in moonlight here as there were no buildings or trees close enough to cast shadows. "You will pay for what you did to those people!"

"Oh how cute, a little ningen!" The woman cried out in delight, clapping her hands and bouncing a bit causing her breasts to jiggle and bounce a little making Rune realize the woman was naked.

"What the hell! Put some damned clothes on!" Rune called.

"Oh sweetie, don't tell me your embarrassed. Or...are you...jealous?" The woman asked as she melted into the shadows making Rune look wildly around for her. Two hands reached from behind her pulling Rune back against two very soft, very large mounds while the hands cupped Rune's own breast through her top making her blush and cry out indignantly while squirming away from the obviously crazy woman who was looking down at her hands making an opening and closing motion with her fingers. "Oh my cute little ningen, you don't have to worry your pretty little head. Your nicely developed already and you still have time to grow."

"I'm not...a...ningen." Rune said, shaking her head while trying to center herself. Her mind kept trying to fog up as her eyes kept getting drawn to the large, soft mounds on the woman's chest that kept moving...in...such...interesting...ways...

'DAMN IT, SNAP OUT OF IT!' Lina's shout cried out, reverberating through Rune's mind clearing the fog out. 'She's trying to charm you, if you fall for it you will be under her power and if you do try to resist and fight she will use her charm abilities to draw your attention where she wants and you won't see her attacks coming.'

'She's a succubus, isn't she?' Rune asked, double checking.

'Yeah, she is.' Lina replied sending extra youkai through Rune to try and block out the effects.

'Then why the hell is she effecting me so much? I'm a girl!' Rune asked, already knowing the answer before Lina voiced it.

'Sweetie, your a girl that likes girls. You will be effected by it, just not as bad as a man would.' Lina said, 'Keep your wits up and stay focused.'

Rune was about to snarl at the lower class demoness before her when she vanished again. Rune was shocked when she was pulled into a very passionate, very deep kiss. At first Rune started to close her eyes and lean into it when she snapped them back open thinking about Lillith. No way was she going to betray her soulmate by letting this...this...THING seduce her!

"That was meeaaaannnnnnn!" The demoness pouted flapping her wings once flying back away from Rune about ten feet before landing softly on her feet once again. Shadows wrapped around the woman forming what looked like some kind of material cupping her breasts that almost resembled a bikini top with no strings holding it in place. The same wrapped downwards creating bottoms to match as a tail seemed to melt into view. "I guess I have no choice but to fight, though I really don't want to hurt anyone."

"What the hell?" Rune growled out, this thing sent one man to the hospital and there was another back in the alley who could be seriously hurt. Sealing her kunai into their storage seals being her favorite one's, Rune started started drawing power from Lina while whispering, "Lord of the Darkness and the Four Winds, I call upon you, grant me all the power you possess."

A wave of power shot through Rune making her almost moan as it filled her with warmth and pleasure as she moved her hands, the talismans that Cherry had given her enhancing and stabilizing the dark power that once flooded the world allowing many to do what only few even remembered possible.

"Old magic, I'm sorry sweetie I don't know how you know how to call upon it, much less use it, but I can't allow it." The succubus said as one of her wings expanded and slashed the air where Rune was, making her jump back to avoice being sliced open from the wing that changed into a blade of darkness momentarily which broke her concentration and hold on the ancient power.

"Okay, that isn't going to work so let's try something different." Rune sighed as she started going through handsigns. "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

The demoness smiled softly at Rune as the dragon made of earth rose from the ground and flew towards the winged woman...who it passed through as if she was a ghost.

"Really now sweetness, we don't have to fight. I'm just hungry, I have a right to eat." The woman said, clapping her hands again and bouncing a little. "I know, let me feed off you and I'll buy you something nice from this nice little restaurant I found."

"Fuck you!" Rune snapped while glaring at the woman.

"Well if we're going to, do you have to keep glaring at me like that. It's a little hard to get into the mood with you looking at me like that." The demoness said, confusion lacing her voice.

"What?" Rune asked shocked, her face glowing hotter and hotter as Lina spelled out exactly what the demoness was insinuating after what Rune's outburst. "Hell no! Suck on this, bitch!"

"Suck on what?" The demoness asked looking oddly at Rune.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Rune called out along with the handseals that she used to create a powerful gust of wind that slammed into the woman and blew her back into several trees and through them at the edge of the clearing. Rune was about to follow when the woman melted from the darkness along the ground upwards into view, her eyes blazing much brighter as she looked scratched up a bit and one wing hung limply at odd angles. Rune gulped as she watched the pain flash across the demoness's face as the injured wing jerked several times before lifting back into place before flapping a few times slowly as if to test it out.

"I tried to be nice, I tried to be reasonable child." The woman growled as Rune tried to punch her, afraid to use the fox cloak after the massacre she cause at the one bandit camp. She used it, but only as a last resort, and she wasn't to that point yet. The look of rage on the demoness's face was making her rethink using it now. She didn't get a chance to though as her fist was batted away before she was lifted by the throat and slammed down on the ground hard knocking the wind from her. She looked up to see the woman's wings separate into dozens of shadow like tendrils with wicked looking points that looked very, very sharp. She couldn't move as she realized she messed up badly coming into a fight this upset, not even prepared for it really. Closing her eyes she realized that she was going to die and there was only one regret that she had. She didn't get to tell Lillith how sorry she was for whatever she did to hurt the older girl. She didn't get to tell the older girl just how much she loved her.

After a few moments of not feeling pain she looked up to see the back of her soulmate, Lillith's arms held out wide as if protecting Rune. "Please don't! Please don't take her from me!" Lillith sobbed while standing protectively above Rune. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, Rune. If anyone has to die, take me. Your a demon aren't you? I'll gladly give you my soul if you leave Rune alone."

"L-Lillith?" Rune asked in shock.

"Oh sweetie." The demoness sighed as her wings turned back to normal, giving a sad look to Lillith. "I never wanted to hurt anyone, I just wanted to feed. Why can't you humans understand that?"

"But you did hurt that man, you sent him to the hospital." Lillith said as Rune started to crawl to her feet, but an unexpected pressure that the younger girl believed was caused by the demoness knocked her back down and knocked the breath from her.

"That's because the exchange wasn't finished, dear. When a succubus feeds, she feeds off the extra energy released during passion. It's even stronger when making love, though that is because some life force is also drained." The demoness explained gently, "Their energy is replaced by a small infusion of youkai that gives them a high for several days until their own bodies naturally replace their life force which expels the small amount of foreign energy. They become stronger, faster and may even gain greater stamina while under the effects. However..." The demoness said, her voice suddenly turning sharp. "When stopped in the middle, the succubus doesn't have time to infuse them. IT ISN'T MY FAULT PEOPLE CAN'T LET TWO PEOPLE ENJOY A SMALL INTERLUDE!"

"So you weren't trying to hurt anyone?" Lillith asked relaxing a little.

'It is possible, kit. While most succubus I ever met wouldn't care, this one seems a little off compared to them. She does seem to be a little...nicer.' Lina explained causing Rune to groan. It would be her luck that her first meeting with a succubus was with one of the good ones. Rune knew there was good creatures of the night out there, so why the hell didn't she take time and make sure that this one was trying to hurt people? She knew why though, she was hurting over Lillith and needed something or someone to take her frustrations out on someone.

"You impressed me very much, mortal." The demoness said, her voice one again becoming more serious. "Not many people would risk there life for anyone, even their loved ones. I could have killed you right now and you still threw yourself in the way of my attack."

"I love Rune, that's all their is to it. I know I'm going to grow old while she stays like this. I wanted to push her away so she doesn't suffer...so I don't abandon her in death. I can't do it though, I love her, I know I'm being selfish. I know I'm selfish but I don't want to let go." Lillith sobbed making Rune's heart ache as she realized how much Lillith was hurting over the younger girl's mistake.

"Oooohhhhhh, so our little ningen somehow became immortal." The demoness said as she took a good long look at Rune. "Tell me child, what if I offered you a gift? I could make it so you wouldn't age, and in fact you could change your form at will though you would have a base form such as mine. In fact, you would resemble me a lot."

"No, Lillith, don't!" Rune cried out struggling against the force getting ready to call up all of her strength with the fox cloak, but the despair and helplessness she was feeling was too overpowering and she couldn't call up the anger and hatred she needed to start it. With practice she would be able to, but she's been too afraid to practice with it until now.

"Would I be able to be with Rune? Forever?" Lillith asked softly, already knowing her answer while she forced herself to ignore Rune's pleas to not listen to the demoness.

"If you two so chose to stay together then yes. You would become my daughter though, one of my children and a daughter of the night. And don't even ask that silly question, you won't burn up in daylight. Not ever vampires really do that. You may find it uncomfortable at first, and your powers will be diminished, but you will still have them at your call." The woman explained.

"What do I have to do?" Lillith asked making a grin spread across the woman's face.

"Are you sure?" The woman asked, stepping forward and cupping Lillith's chin.

"Yes." Lillith said resolutely, "Anything to be with Rune."

"Then concentrate on your desire to be with her, focus on accepting my gift." The demoness said softly before kissing Lillith deeply, strands of energy immediately seeping out of Lillith mush faster than with what Rune saw happening in the alley. As soon as it finally stopped the kiss deepened even more as scarlet strands seeped out of the demoness and into Lillith making her gasp deeply. The changes were immediate and easily spotted as Lillith's hair grew several inches longer before bleeding from the scalp outward turning it a darker shade of red matching that of blood. Her top tightened drastically as the back of her top was shredded as wings exploded from her back to fade back into her, a long tail following suit with a heart shaped barb on the end. After what seemed like an eternity Lillith dropped to the ground, the demoness melting away into the darkness while saying, "I'll be back in her dreams to train my new child, make sure you take good care of my newest daughter little ningen."

"Lillith!" Rune sobbed as she crawled over to her soulmate to find her out cold. She had no idea what to do because if she took Lillith to a doctor and they find out that she was possibly a demon or related to one somehow, then she may be killed for it. Instead, Rune carried the now almost weightless body back their room while wondering how a body could weigh so little.

It was a tearful reunion when Lillith did finally wake back up the following night feeling better than she ever had in her entire life. Her body was filled with so much power that it was hard to believe that she ever lived life normally. It was easy to get out of bed which was curious as she was sure she would be at least a little sore. She didn't make it far when she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she was gorgeous. She thought she was a little pretty before, but no where near as beautiful as she was now. Her hair was much darker, no longer being the shade of pink it once was as it now took on a crimson shade. Her body that once a pear shape was now a very curvy hourglass shape. Hell, her breasts were even larger than Rose's! She had the body of a goddess...or demoness. "Oh wow, I'm a d-demon."

"A sexy one." A tired Rune yawned as she came into the room carrying a tray of food, the light coming from the doorway making Lillith wince. "How are you feeling?"

"Good, really good." Lillith said admiring herself in the mirror, making poses and running her hands along her body.

"Lillith, why did you do that?" Rune asked, her voice croaking out making Lillith stop and turn to look at Rune. There was dried tear tracks and the girl's eyes bloodshot and puffy. "Did I do something wrong? Did I push you to do this? To make you change? Is that why your pushing me away lately? Are you starting to...hate me?"

"Rune!" Lillith gasped out in shock, not realizing just how bad she had hurt Rune with her own insecurities. Rune didn't even see Lillith move before she was crushed in a hug and Lillith crying. "I love you, I could never hate you! You are my everything, my soulmate. I just...I was scared of abandoning you in death while you kept living. I didn't want you to feel obligated to stay with an old hag when you were still so young. I'm the one whose sorry for making you feel like it was your fault."

"But it is, you changed into a monster just so you could stay with me." Rune sobbed out.

"Do you think that's what I am? A monster? How about Lina? Is she a monster?" Lillith asked softly, taking a step back and tilting Runes face upwards, gently using her hands to cup her cheeks while drying the tears with her thumbs as Rune shook her head no the best she could in the older girl's grip. Lillith smiled and leaned in to kiss her after saying, "Good, neither of us are a monster and I love you my little fox girl."

The demoness that changed Lillith was true to her word, returning three times a week in Lillith's dreams and going so far as to pull Rune into them to show the girl that nothing bad was going on. The woman had revealed herself as Morrigan, a member of the succubae royal house yet a kind and playful creature. Not that Rune saw that, she saw Morrigan as a threat for what she did to Lillith though a part of her in the back of her mind grudgingly admitted that she has glad it happened if it meant being able to be with Lillith for eternity. The strange thing though was that despite Morrigan acting so childish at times, she demanded that she be referred to as mother. Lillith didn't have any problems with it though as her birth mother was nothing to her, Rose was her mommy and Morrigan her mother. It seemed like she was getting rewarded for the hell her own flesh and blood mother made her go through growing up by giving her two very loving mothers.

Lillith came to get to know all of her skills and benefits that came along with her change of species as well as the negative results. One of the biggest negatives being that she could no longer be exclusive, nor gay. In fact, Lillith found herself starting to find men very attractive though she could feel how different the feeling was than how she thought of Rune. This feeling was mixed with a hunger that a hunter would feel for their prey, which was what men had become to her. Morrigan explained that it was what her nature was as there were simply no gay or straight succubae, only bi since they were creatures that fed off lust and sexual energies. And while she could feed off of Rune without actually killing her, it also wasn't healthy to do it every night, for either of them.

Rune ran the risk of becoming a creature that wasn't succubae and wasn't human, something that needed to feed as a succubae but unable to get the satisfaction or feeling of fullness. Something that would go on searching for something that she needed, but couldn't obtain due to not having the abilities to absorb the sexual energies which would drive her insane. Of course it was doubtful it could happen with Lina inside of Rune, but none of them wanted to risk it. So Lillith had to resort to feeding off of others, many of them being men as they provided a more potent feeding. It wasn't that she craved the men more, it was because it was how she was made. It was true that an incubus or a succubus could feed off either sex, but the opposite gender provided more of a charge that lasted longer. The only problem it could be very hard if Lillith became too hungry she could lose control of herself and attack someone, practically raping them in an effort to stop the hunger which meant that she had to stay fed and it was best to stay in a village for too long at one time until Lillith learned to control her new form completely.

So it was that at least once a week Lillith would go searching for a man to seduce and feed off of. She felt so bad, so guilty about it that she told Rune that if she wanted she could find someone else that would be better for her as Lillith realized that in her quest to become something that could stay together with Rune, she messed up their relationship by being forced to seek out different bed partners. Rune completely understood and said that she didn't want anyone else except for Lillith, not even for a one night stand.

It was the third month that Rune finally started to admit that Morrigan may not have been as bad as she first believed. Did that mean that she got along with the succubus? Hell no! Still, she could be more civil around her for Lillith's sake since no matter what happened the two succubae were now bonded together in a way that could never be changed as mother and daughter.

One night Rune couldn't believe the setting that she appeared in as she was standing at the alter at what almost resembled a church, completely naked while Morrigan stood before her with a soft smile, also naked. At first Rune started to growl as she was about to attack, but the strange look in the older woman's eyes stopped her.

"I have decided to do something that has never been done before as no human has ever been allowed to witness, much less take part in a sacred ceremony among my kind." Morrigan said slowly, her voice thick with emotion that confused Rune a little. "Before I summon my daughter here, I want to ask you something. Do you truly love her?"

"Yes, with all my heart." Rune said firmly before she realized she was saying it.

"In all honesty, I had doubts about you. I thought you was going to leave her after her change and yet, I believe it has brought you two closer together. You two share a love that rarely happens and I truly believe you two are as close to real soulmates as possible, if not the real thing." Morrigan sighed as she waved her hand and a small pedestal with a violet pillow rose from the ground, two rings laying on it. "Sometimes two of my kind will wish to form a union, almost like a marriage between themselves. This is a sacred ceremony that binds those two together granting a bond that your human marriages can not hope to match. If you accept this, accept my daughter, then I will allow you to share this union with her. You both will have a mental link with each other that will also provide empathy and when extremely close you can feel each others' physical joys and pain. Do you accept this? Are you willing to and want to?"

"Yes!" Rune cried out before catching herself as her eyes watered. She didn't mean to cry out that loud, but she didn't care. She did want this, but did Lillith? "What if she doesn't though?"

"I want to." Lillith cried out as she melted into being next to Rune throwing her arms around the smaller girl.

"Then so be it, I will allow you to form a union with my daughter, child." Morrigan said as she began the ceremony. It began almost like a wedding ceremony were they exchanged rings, then things got completely different. They shared their blood then drank from a goblet that also had red wine laced with Lillith's mother, the head of their line of succubae which began the binding. To seal it Lillith and Rune made love on a ceremonial table as they were allowed to skip over the usual training for that night. The two were shocked though when they woke up and still had the rings on. Of course they found out a small side effect to having the mental link very quickly. Though they could communicate through their link, it also meant that Lina could talk with Lillith also as a type of piggybacking off Rune's mind.

**~END FLASHBACK~**

"I think we should turn in, sis. And I think a special someone really wants to spend some time with you." Amelia said, teasing as she caught site of Lillith who was hiding behind a tree and spying on them now.

"I think you were right, sis. It's time that we stopped this, at least for now. We're pretty close to the border and maybe it's time I stop putting it off." Rune sighed, it taking several moments for Amelia to nod a little stiffly.

"Sis, if you really go through with seeking her out and things don't go how you expect. Just remember that you have people that love you and a place to call home, if it's with me in the palace or in Tanzuka with Rose. We all love you." Amelia said hugging Rune and giving her a kiss on the cheek, leaning over to give Lillith one as well as the girl joined them. "Have a good night you two, and congratulations."

"Thanks sis." Rune smiled as Amelia went to join her samurai who were taking care of the victims.

"So we are really finally going?" Lillith asked, a little worried about what they were going to find in Mist. Maybe they could at least find answers on the bloodline that laid dormant in Rune that Lina warned them about, a very powerful one that Lina was afraid to tamper with by forcing it to activate. All she knew was that it had to do with Rune's father as she never seen anything like it when trapped in Kushina, not that the woman gave Lina the freedom Rune had.


	15. Act II Part II Devastation

**Act II, Part II**

**Devastation**

Not much to mention this chapter since I have to leave soon since the battery is about dead and want to go ahead and get this posted. I do want to thank everyone who has enjoyed this story and your support as things begin moving more and more to Rune's return to Konoha and the Chunin exams. Thank you also to everyone who has favorited either this story or me as well as the four communities that added my story to them.

Rune Age 15

Mizu no Kuni, or the Land of Water was a beautiful place, a nation mostly made up of islands. The closer the pair got to their destination of Kirigakure, or the Hidden Mist Village, it was easy to see that things were far more different that they believed. They knew that there was a civil war recently, a type of war that could ravage a nation, but to see the devastation that seemed to dominate the small outlying villages that they passed was horrifying. There were so many damaged if not totally destroyed buildings that it made both girls sad to see the impoverished children running around. It did give them hope though when they saw many of them smiling. Rune was glad that she did turned in her last bounties of three men because it meant she didn't have to touch their savings from all the bandit camps that weren't slavers that they looted for themselves when she handed out money to many of the children and beggars that they passed.

Still, seeing the villages like that was more expected than seeing the massive gates that led into the Mist Village in such poor condition. While one seemed to still be mostly whole and towered above them, the other was blackened and missing most of it as it barely reached Rune's shoulders in it's jagged state as it hung open.

"State your business in Kirigakure." A mist Chunin demanded standing before the gates, arms crossed though his body tense. Rune could tell that several others were near by, most likely making sure that there wasn't going to be any trouble. She was glad that she let Lillith convince her to wear a normal peasant dress of earthen colors and a brown cloak while changing her eyes blue and hair violet. Lillith hadn't had any reports of her base human form so she still had her deep crimson hair and newly emerald eyes, though she also wore a simple peasant dress similar to Rune's own.

"We're just traveler's passing through. I'm a bard, Rune Haruno and my companion Lillith Haruno." Rune said, indicating herself then Lillith.

"Yeah, right. And I'm the Mizukage." The Chunin snorted in disbelief. "If you're a bard then why don't you play something?"

"Okay then, fine by me." Rune said, beaming at the man as she pulled out her ocarina. In just a few minutes she had the man nearly mesmerized as he stared at her, his jaw dropping as the tension in his body visibly washed away as a small yet sad smile formed on his face.

"That's good, you can stop." The man said softly, a wistful look on his face. "That may have even been more beautiful than when Lady Uzumaki played for us, rest her soul."

"May I ask what happened?" Rune asked softly as she put her ocarina away, hiding the hurt that she didn't expect to feel. She was so pissed at the woman who abandoned her, so why feel sorrow learning that she was dead. It meant that they really didn't have to stick around here for now though, but they did need a place to rest for a night or two.

'We can maybe learn a little about her sweetie, at the very least find out what kind of woman she was.' Lillith suggested over their link making Rune realize how much the girl wanted Rune to find out what kind of person Kushina was. After all, Lillith's real mother was a piece of work and Rune could feel the hope radiating from her soulmate in finding out something good.

"Lord and Lady Uzumaki were murdered when protecting their daughter. They didn't have a bloodline limit and weren't ninja, but the bastards killed them anyways." The Chunin said in disgust. "They were good people, they didn't deserve what happened to them."

"I'm sorry." Rune said, truly meaning it which surprised her even more. She wanted Kushina to feel some of the pain she went through, but learning the woman was dead was upsetting. Then she found out that she had another half sister that made her feel both happy and upset at the same time.

"Look kid, I'll let you in though you better be on your best behavior. I doubt you will find an Inn to stay at seeing as only three survived somewhat intact and only one has been mostly restored since the Uzumaki seals kept it from suffering as much damage as a lot of the other buildings and many displaced civilians are staying at all three." The Chunin said, "We aren't doing so well either so don't expect much from us."

"Thank you, sir. I promise we won't do anything to cause trouble." Rune said bowing a little before going through the gate followed closely by Lillith.

"This is horrible." Lillith said as they got through the gates. Despite the devastation to the surrounding villages, it didn't compare to the damage here. The atmosphere was much more oppressive and depressive and the few people they saw didn't seem to have the hope that filled the smaller villages. The civil war must have been much worse for the hidden village where it started.

"I...what do we do?" Rune asked, disgusted by how ignorant people can be. Just how could people slaughter those who were born differently? "I hate seeing people this...this..."

"Downtrodden? Helpless? Devastated?" A new voice asked shocking the two girls and drawing their attention behind them to a very beautiful red haired woman flanked by several of Mist's version of ANBU. "Greetings ladies, my name is Mei Terumī, the..."

"Godaime Mizukage." Rune said interrupting her, already guessing easily who the woman was.

"Yes, and though I know your names, at least what you claim them to be, I still have my doubts." Mei said, the smile never leaving her lips as she glared suspiciously at the duo. "You see, I know of the so called Siren, the bard that lures bandits in with her music, voice and even her body to slaughter them. She is obviously no civilian and has been trained in ninjutsu."

"And you think one of us is this Siren?" Rune asked as she grew a little nervous.

"Look around you, we would be helpless if another hidden village learned just how bad off we are and decided to attack. Now tell me what a normal bard would want around here." Mei said as she tensed, several of her apparent guards doing the same. "Are you here spying for another village?"

"No...I'm not here to spy. I can't tell you exactly why I'm here other than seeking answers from my past." Rune sighed, knowing that it would be useless to deny anything about being the Siren. She wouldn't tell why she was here though, she didn't want anyone connecting her to the woman that was supposed to be her mother. Dead or not.

'Maybe you should offer some of the loot you have saved from the normal bandit camps.' Lina suggested, also feeling sorry for the condition of the village. Despite having ignorant fools living here, there were also numerous innocents also inhabiting the devastated village.

'If you want, give them all of it.' Lillith added, 'We can always get more from bounties.'

'She's right, though make sure you keep enough for you to live off of for awhile.' Lina said.

"Well then, what are you here for?" Mei asked, her smile growing as her glare intensified.

"Tell me, why isn't there people here from the Daimyo helping rebuild? Hell, I haven't even seen many people here working to fix anything." Rune asked as Mei looked like she had been slapped. The smile on the older woman's face faded just long enough to make Rune wonder if it was imagined before returning full force.

"It isn't a secret around here that the water daimyo was killed in the war when he came to try and negotiate peace. The council is so busy with fighting among themselves that they haven't even named a new daimyo much less help any of the villages out, much less ours. We don't have the money without taxing the citizens of every penny they get to fix everything right now, and even if I was cruel enough to do that no one has the money to pay those kind of taxes." Mei explained while studying Rune's expression. "Is that the information you were looking for? Are you planning to run back to your masters now and report this so you can try and wipe us out?"

"No, but I am going to do this." Rune said pulling several scrolls from her pack and the storage seals on her wrist before handing them to Mei who arched an eyebrow.

"And what is this? Demands that we surrender? I'm sorry little girl, but I'll kill you before we give up our freedom to another tyrant." Mei snarled as she shoved the scrolls into the arms of one of her guards who actually unrolled one of them before gasping in shock.

"What's wrong?" Mei asked as she turned to look at her guard who was not only a sensor type, but a master of seals and had the ability to see what was in a storage scroll by holding it and studying the seals without on sealing it.

"These are storage scrolls and there's money in them." The guard said in awe.

"So what, she's trying to bribe us with a little money? How much is there, her piggy bank?" Mei asked tauntingly while the color drained from the man's face.

"No my Lady, there's enough here combined to fix the village and fill the treasury as well as hire outside help. Hell, there may be enough to even help some of the closer villages rebuild." The man said making Mei's eyes go wide in shock.

"What the hell do you want in exchange for this?" Mei asked as she turned to face Rune. "Where did you get it?"

"You should know, you already called me by what many people know me as." Rune admitted, "And all I ask is to be allowed to stay here for a couple nights."

"No! I'll let you stay, but you are not allowed to leave until we finish repairs on the village." Mei ordered, "You will be under constant supervision and you will stay with my younger sister until I say you can leave the village."

"Do it, Rune." Lillith urged, taking Rune's hand and squeezing, "We can rest and even see what we can find out about your mom."

"Your mother?" Mei asked in shock, raising an eyebrow. "What's your mother's name?"

"None of your fucking business!" Rune snapped before she could help herself making Mei giggle a little.

"You might want to show me some respect, or else I might have to...kill you." Mei said with a smirk. "Anyways, I will grant you the freedom to explore the village, but only when escorted by either my sister or one of my guards. It is either that or you can stay in the dungeons of the Mizukage tower."

"We'll stay with your sister, right Rune?" Lillith burst out making Rune nod grudgingly.

"Okay then, you, lead these two to my sister and tell her that I have put these two under her surveillance and stay there and make sure they don't leave without you escorting them." Mei said pointing to another of her guards, "And...thank you for this. Even if it is a trap, you have helped a lot of innocent people with this."

"No problem, I kept plenty for us to live off of for awhile. Keeping all of that would have been selfish when it could go to helping people who really need it." Rune said, a little embarrassed at being put on the spot like that.

"All of you, no one is to know that the Siren is staying in the village. And do not tell my sister for now, I do not want this getting out and with all of the people staying at the Inn the wrong people may hear about it." Mei ordered to a chorus of, "Yes my Lady."

The trip through the village was quick yet quiet as the few attempts to get their guard to talk failed after he expressed his gratitude for what they did while letting them know that he doesn't trust them, at least not yet. It left the two, or three counting Lina to look over the village even more finding buildings that may have had some scorching while remaining in pretty good condition while other buildings were nothing more than rubble. It hurt to see children dirty and begging and unlike the beggars coming towards this village these children had looks or despair and hopelessness in their eyes.

"Here you go sweetie." Rune said giving a young girl a few gold coins, making the child smile brightly banishing some of the sadness from her eyes.

"Thank you so much, I can buy my family some dinner!" The girl cried as she hugged Rune who hugged her back, though the girl was stopped by Lillith. The girl looked up in fear at Lillith while grasping the few coins tighter.

"Take this to." Lillith said as she handed the girl a small bag. "Share this with your family and some of your friends."

"Th-thank you!" The girl gasped opening the bag to find it full of coins.

"Your welcome sweetie." Lillith said as she leaned down to kiss the girl's forehead before taking a cloth and trying to wipe some of the dirt from her face. "You better run along now, darling."

"Thank you pretty ladies." The girl cried as she ran from the guard and two girls. Rune gave the guard a small smile who was looking on in gratitude at the two girls.

"Rezzo, what are you doing here?" a girl near Rune's age asked, carrying a paper bag filled with what looked like vegetables, though from what could be seen they were wilted pretty badly.

"Looks like I'll be hanging around kid since the Lady Mizukage assigned me to your aunt's new guests." The guard, who was called Rezzo explained while pointing at the two while the girl glared at them.

"We hardly have room as it is, and even less food. Why the hell is Auntie Mei sending them here?" The girl asked.

"They donated some money to help the village and the Lady Mizukage, Sari. The Lady Mizukage was going to let them stay as guests in the dungeons, but after talking with them she decided to allow them to stay under your aunt's surveillance." Rezzo explained. "Is Kushina here?"

"She should be, Auntie Kushina sent me shopping after all. Not that you can count this overpriced shit as shopping." Sari said shaking her head.

'Did they say Kushina?' Rune asked weakly.

'It couldn't be...that guy said Lady Uzumaki.' Lillith said in shock. It was too good to be true. After all of the bad luck that they had they were due to something good, but was this good luck or bad if it really was Kushina Uzumaki.

'If it is or isn't, it doesn't change anything girls. We are stuck here for the foreseeable future.' Lina said sobering the two, 'At least here we can see just what kind of person Kushina is.'

"Are you coming or not?" Sari asked angrily pulling the three from their mental discussion, the two in the physical world blinking as they realized that their companions were getting annoyed as it looked like they were already heading to wherever they were going to.

The Inn wasn't as big as some of the ones that they visited, yet it was still larger than most small villages and outposts. Surprisingly it seemed to be in pretty good condition compared to it's closest neighbors who had scorch marks and broken windows. "Well, this is where you two will be staying while you are here." Rezzo said.

"Don't you dare cause any trouble either, and I don't give a damn if you are bards or guests of my Auntie, you will be paying for your stay here." Sari said making Rezzo splutter indignantly.

"Now see here, young lady, our Lady Mizukage..." Rezzo started before a new voice called out from inside.

"Sari, we need those vegetables!"

"Coming Auntie!" Sari called back while giving Rezzo, Rune and Lillith glares that they were sure would kill lesser beings. "Don't fuck with me, we don't have much and we aren't sharing it with freeloading outsiders. If you want something you pay for it."

"I'm sorry about young Sari, but she has a point. It has been hard for everyone after the war with a lot of buildings destroyed and crops burned up in attacks." Rezzo said softly, "Let me talk to Lady Uzumaki and I'll see what I can do."

"Don't bother, we don't mind paying. In fact, we insist." Lillith said with a kind smile.

"I don't understand though, the guard said Lady Uzumaki was killed." Rune said slowly, confused at the strange girl and the two obviously pieces of information.

"He must have been talking about Lady Reisha Uzumaki and her husband Shin Uzumaki. They two were civilians, though Lady Reisha came from the Uzumaki Clan so instead of her changing her last name Shin changed his when they married. Lady Reisha didn't believe in fighting and was in fact a pacifist and Shin became one as well. When the bloodline purge happened near the beginning of the war, Reisha and Shin were some of the first victims as they protected Sari, Lady Kushina and our Lady Mizukage were Lady Reisha's elder sisters and came just in time to save young Sari though nothing could be done for her parents." Rezzo explained.

"That is enough!" A voice barked out from the entranceway into the Inn where they looked up to see an older version of the picture that Rune had of her mother Kushina Uzumaki. "What the hell gives you the right to tell outsiders about our my life?"

"I apologize, Lady Uzumaki, our Lady Mizukage ordered me to escort your new guests here and patrol the area to make sure they say put in the village." Rezzo said.

"And that gives you the right to tell outsiders from Hi no Kuni about my past? why?" Kushina glared angrily at the man who fidgeted nervously under her glare. "Tell my sister that she better not send anyone else because after these two we are packed. And if she even thinks of sending anyone else from Hi no Kuni, tell her that I'll send them back in pieces."

"Wow, friendly much?" Rune snapped causing Kushina to turn her glare on her.

"Listen here you little bitch, I don't know if you are from the Leaf or not, but if I even suspect you of thinking about bothering me or my niece I won't hesitate in killing you." Kushina growled.

'As if she could.' Lina snorted to Rune and Lina who giggled mentally though it didn't take them long to sober up. So far they weren't exactly forming a very good opinion of the woman and Rune was beginning to wish that she was the one that died instead of Reisha, at least Reisha sounded like a decent person.

"How do you know they are from the Land of Fire my Lady?" Rezzo asked nervously.

"Look at their skin tone, true anyone could possibly get a tan like that, but most people who live in Hi no Kuni will have a tone like that. And when I accused her of being there I saw the shock in their eyes confirming it for me. Those bastards took enough from me and I won't let them take anymore." Kushina growled out.

"And you think we didn't lose shit? Listen here you bitch, both of our mothers were pieces of shit! Mine abandoned me and Lillith's was a cruel bitch! We lost our papa! We both suffered a hell of a lot growing up so don't you dare stand there and treat us like shit because you had some losses to! Your the fucking adult, grow up!" Rune screamed, anger getting the better of her and shocking the older red haired woman who took a step back.

"You know nothing of pain." Kushina snarled, back backed down as her eyes softened a little looking into both Rune's then Lillith's eyes. "Maybe you do, I'm sorry. It isn't an excuse, but I'm still getting over the loss of my baby sister. I'm doing my best to run an Inn when I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I'm a ninja not a damn barmaid!"

"Why run it then?" Lillith asked before thinking.

"Because it is all my baby sister had to leave her baby, and I'll do everything I can to keep it open and do my duty to my Kage." Kushina said, her voice full of emotion and determination.

'Remind you of someone, love?' Lillith sent over their mental link.

'She's nothing like me.' Rune denied, though she couldn't anything from her lover and tenant, no matter how much she tried to hide it from herself.

"Relax Rezzo, I'll show the girls to their rooms." Kushina said, obviously dismissing the shinobi to do his rounds around the premises where he would be keeping an eye out for any trouble, especially from Rune and Lillith. "Come girls, I'll show you to your room."

"Thank you." Lillith said as she took Rune's hand and pulled her along behind Kushina. The common room of the Inn was packed with mostly ninja sitting and chatting, a few of them eating small portions of some kind of stew. It was a pretty simple set up with all wood floors and no table clothes with only a few banners with both the Land of Water and Mist Village's symbols on them.

"I'm sorry, were are my manners?" Kushina said in a way that showed that she really didn't care, but was forcing herself to be polite. "My name is Kushina Uzumaki and apparently you met my niece Sari Uzumaki."

"I'm Lillith Haruno and this is Rune Haruno." Lillith explained while giving the older woman a smile as the older red head looked back over her shoulder, her eyes widening a bit.

"Any relation to Ryu Haruno?" Kushina asked, then realized who the older girl was even though she looked a little different than she remembered. "Lily?"

"He was my daddy." Lillith explained, "He died about a year ago, his heart failed."

"I'm sorry to hear that dear, he was actually a good man." Kushina said softly, her voice taking on a somber tone as they climbed a set of stairs to the third floor, which was the highest, and down the hallway to where it looked like there had been some recent repairs. "Look girls, I really am sorry for how I acted at first. I don't exactly trust people from the Land of Fire, I lost too much there and just about everything I did lose was taken from me."

"Did you have children there?" Lillith asked making Rune send her a mental glare.

'I don't want her knowing who we are looking for, Lillith. And if this is who my mother is I sure as hell don't want to know her.' Rune said, her mental voice a little angry though it didn't bother Lillith much. Lillith knew how much turmoil Rune was in right now so she wouldn't get mad at her lover, unless the younger girl got really pissy.

'Don't you want to at least know?' Lillith asked softly.

"I did have a daughter, but she was taken from me by my idiot husband only for him to get both him and my baby killed by a monster." Kushina growled out. "And he did it all for an ungrateful village!"

"If you ask me, the villagers of the leer are the ones who are the monsters." Rune said angrily before catching herself.

"Why would you say that?" Kushina asked, actually curious as she pulled out a ring of keys going through them.

"Let's just say you aren't they only one they hurt. Rune grumbled, refusing to meet her mother's questioning gaze as Kushina unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"Maybe I was a little harsh on you two, but that doesn't change the fact that we really don't have room. This is the only unoccupied room and most of the others have several people sleeping in them which means you two will also have to share a room. Also, since this room was just finished being repaired you will have to do without a bed for awhile until I can afford one." Kushina explained. "Since you to are travelers, I'm sure you have sleeping bags or bedrolls you can use. The only meal we provide is dinner which is included in your room price which is five silver a night. Your room key is on the table."

"Thank you." Lillith said as Rune looked inside to see a decent room, a fresh coat of paint on the walls and a polished hardwood floor. The only piece of furniture was a small table near the sole window that looked like it would be a good place to have a meal if there were a couple chars.

"Here." Rune grumbled as she dug out a week's worth of coins to pay for the room.

"Thank you, there is a shared bathroom at the end of the hall and it is marked. There is also a bathhouse outback that is self service. Please make sure to stay on your own side and no horsing around." Kushina explained, "I won't be around during most days while you are here as my duties keep me away most of the day and I train with my niece during the morning hours. If you need anything there will be guards patrolling the area and I will be here evenings."

"What if you get an extended mission?" Lillith asked.

"Are you kidding me? Did you even see the shape of the village? Everyone is needed making repairs and getting everything in order and with the daimyo dead the only missions we get are local D ranks." Kushina laughed sarcastically. "Look, you two girls have a good night and if you haven't had dinner you can come downstairs and get some after you get settled. The portions are small and there is no seconds until we can get more supplies brought in."

"Whatever." Rune sighed, Lillith knowing how much they both eat would make it a bit of a problem. While Lillith could last longer without much food thanks to her body feeding off of sexual energies, she still need food to survive and she did have a slightly higher metabolism that humans. On the other hand, Rune had an extremely higher metabolism than even Lillith because of the energy her body burned housing Lina.

"Well, I'll leave you ladies to get settled in." Kushina said closing the door behind her.

'What do you think?' Lillith asked as they sat their bags down and stripped their cloaks off.

'Honestly? I think I hate her more now than before I came here.' Rune sighed, not liking the way her mother acted despite a part of her understanding it. This was where Kushina lived for so long and even been forced into a civil war that took her baby sister. Still, the attitude that Kushina was showing was pissing her off.

'Let's just get some rest and I'll see what I can do later. Maybe I can sneak out in the darkness and see about bringing some stuff back for us.' Lillith suggested.

'Can you get some stuff for this place to? In fact, maybe visit a village not touched by war that sales most of their crops and have them deliver it here?' Rune asked.

'Why go through all the trouble? These people aren't your people, this isn't your village.' Lina asked though she pretty much knew the answer. Rune may act tough a lot of times, but the girl had a soft heart for those that were downtrodden and no one was more downtrodden that a village after a civil war that nearly caused it's own destruction.

'Because I can't just sit back and do nothing.' Rune sighed knowing this would cut into what they had left a lot.

'Don't worry about it sweetie, we have plenty and can always get more.' Lillith said giving a mental smile while hugging Rune physically.


End file.
